Living with Astigmatism & How to Correct It | EVO ICL

Living with astigmatism

Although the world offers amazing technology such as virtual reality and big screen TVs, it’s becoming more common for children and adults to need vision correction due to astigmatism in the eye, and possibly myopia, or nearsightedness.


Do I Have Astigmatism?

Sometimes it’s hard to tell whether or not you have astigmatism depending on its severity and the type you may have. For a majority of people, these are a few astigmatism symptoms that indicate whether or not you may have it:

What is Astigmatism?

Astigmatism describes the irregular shape of one’s cornea, or the transparent layer that is located in front of the eye.

When light enters a normal eye and passes through the cornea, it is supposed to meet at a single focal point in the retina. Imagine that a normal eyeball and cornea is the shape of a basketball, allowing for the light to properly enter the eye, giving us the ability to see clearly.

However, when the eye is of an irregular shape, multiple focal points form and the light passing through the cornea do not meet at one point. The eyeball now takes the shape of something like a football, with some areas of the cornea steeper or rounder than other areas. This misaligns the light entering the eye and produces the blurry or distorted vision you may experience when looking at objects.

The severity of astigmatism is dependent on many different things, ranging from genetics to daily habits. Mild astigmatism is typically harder to detect unless you visit an optometrist to have a comprehensive eye exam. Those with more prominent signs of astigmatism will be able to tell since you’ll see distorted images and wordings in almost everything you look at.

How common is it?

According to a study done in March of 2018, 27.2% of Americans suffer from some type of astigmatism of the eye. The prevalence of people who have myopia, or nearsightedness, have globally increased significantly from 10.4% in 1993 to 34.2% in 2016.

This growing effect impacts both children and adults, probably since we’re in the middle of an advancing digital age. It’s important to be more conscientious about our eyesight since astigmatism in children are also increasing.

In 2016, the Willis Eye Vision Screening Program for Children conducted a screening program on Philadelphia’s public schools and reported 2,492 students who were in need of vision correction. Their eyesight was described as blurry since 1,484 of them had signs of astigmatism. 368 out of 2,492 students were reported to have both astigmatism and myopia, creating challenges for them when learning in the classroom.

What are ways to correct astigmatism?

Depending on the severity of your astigmatism in your eyes, there are various ways to address your unique visual needs.

  1. Prescription Eyeglasses
  2. Toric Contact Lenses
  3. Corrective Eye Surgery

Explore the different visual correction options available to give you the best vision for the astigmatism in your eyes.

Important Safety Information

The EVO Visian ICL Lens is intended for the correction of moderate to high nearsightedness. EVO Visian ICL and EVO Visian TICL surgery is intended to safely and effectively correct nearsightedness between -3.0 D to -15.0 D, the reduction in nearsightedness up to -20.0 D and treatment of astigmatism from 1.0 D to 4.0 D. If you have nearsightedness within these ranges, EVO Visian ICL surgery may improve your distance vision without eyeglasses or contact lenses. Because the EVO Visian ICL corrects for distance vision, it does not eliminate the need for reading glasses, you may require them at some point, even if you have never worn them before.

Implantation of the EVO Visian ICL is a surgical procedure, and as such, carries potentially serious risks. Please discuss the risks with your eye care professional. Complications, although rare, may include need for additional surgical procedures, inflammation, loss of cells from the back surface of the cornea, increase in eye pressure, and cataracts.

You should NOT have EVO Visian ICL surgery if:

  • Your doctor determines that the shape of your eye is not an appropriate fit for the EVO Visian ICL
  • You are pregnant or nursing
  • You have moderate to severe damage to the optic nerve caused by increased pressure (glaucoma)
  • You do not meet the minimum endothelial cell density for your age at the time of implantation as determined by your eye doctor
  • Your vision is not stable as determined by your eye doctor

Before considering EVO Visian ICL surgery you should have a complete eye examination and talk with your eye care professional about EVO Visian ICL surgery, especially the potential benefits, risks, and complications. You should discuss the time needed for healing after surgery. For additional information with potential benefits, risks and complications please visit DiscoverICL.com.

References

References

1. Packer M. The Implantable Collamer Lens with a central port: review of the literature. Clin Ophthalmol. 2018;12:2427-2438.

2. Martínez-Plaza E, López-Miguel A, López-de la Rosa A, et al. Effect of the EVO+ Visian Phakic Implantable Collamer Lens on Visual Performance and Quality of Vision and Life, Am J Ophthalmol 2021;226:117-125.

3. Packer M. Evaluation of the EVO/EVO+ Sphere and Toric Visian ICL: Six month results from the United States Food and Drug Administration clinical trial. Clinical Ophthalmology. 2022;16:1541-53.

4. Parkhurst GD. A prospective comparison of phakic collamer lenses and wavefront-optimized laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis for correction of myopia. Clin Ophthalmol. 2016;10:1209-1215.

5. Ganesh S, Brar S, Pawar A. Matched population comparison of visual outcomes and patient satisfaction between 3 modalities for the correction of low to moderate myopic astigmatism. Clin Ophthalmol. 2017;11:1253-1263.

6. Naves J.S, Carracedo G, Cacho-Babillo I, Diadenosine nucleotid measurements as dry-eye score in patients after LASIK and ICL surgery. Presented at American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery (ASCRS) 2012.

7. Shoja, MR. Besharati, MR. Dry eye after LASIK for myopia: Incidence and risk factors. European Journal of Ophthalmology. 2007; 17(1): pp. 1-6.

8. Lee, Jae Bum et al. Comparison of tear secretion and tear film instability after photorefractive keratectomy and laser in situ keratomileusis. Journal of Cataract & Refractive Surgery , Volume 26 , Issue 9 , 1326 - 1331.

9. Parkhurst, G. Psolka, M. Kezirian, G. Phakic intraocular lens implantantion in United States military warfighters: A retrospective analysis of early clinical outcomes of the Visian ICL. J Refract Surg. 2011;27(7):473-481.

*American Refractive Surgery Council

We get it. Decisions like this take time to consider and research. We can help guide your decision with information that's the most relevant to you.

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