Help understanding astigmatism and prescription readings?!


Question: Help understanding astigmatism and prescription readings?
I have had glasses for several years now for short sightness im 34 but its only been mild so i rarely wear them. Last week after swimming I scratched my eye, it was very painful but within a couple of hours it was fine although i noticed my vision was still a little affected, a few days later after swimming again I realised how bad my eyes felt after getting out, it did settle again but i noticed i was getting double vision in one eye. I made an appointment as its not felt right and the optician has noticed quite a big change in the astigmatism level, he said that the double vision might settle and may still be due to the scratched cornea however he also mentioned that i would need a lot of monitoring to make sure i was developing a condition called kerracotonus. Would the scratched cornea clear up and put my astigmatism level back how it was or did he just mean the double vision may settle, im a bit confused now, i know i should have asked and might call back in but trying to work out now whether the scratch to the cornea as just made me realise my eyes have been getting worse. I dont think the myopia is a problem i think thats quite mild but may be someone could help interpret my reading in english lol so i understand more what the levels mean.

My right eye which is fine no problem has levels sph -1.25 cyl -0.75 and axis 90
My left eye and the one im having double vision in reads at sph -025 cyl -2.25 and axis 80

The astigmatism level was similar to my other eye last time but has changed and im not sure whether this level could have been from a scratch or what and how bad is this reading? sorry just confused over my reading any advice would be great. Thank you :)

Answers:

It is very unlikely that just a scratched cornea would alter your astigmatism in any way. As far as the keratoconus goes, that could just be a coincidence if you truly have developed that. A scratched cornea can generally clear up pretty fast and unless it was a traumatic injury, there wouldn't be any lasting affects.

I would suggest you consult an ophthalmologist for a second opinion. If you are developing keratoconus, they may be able to help you better and depending on what is causing the double vision, may have better treatment options if any type of surgery is required. Keratoconus is when the cornea becomes cone like in shape. That can cause a change in your astigmatism for sure.

Your right eye is more nearsighted than the left and has a mild amount of astigmatism. The left has a much greater amount of astigmatism, and if you were to get glasses it could take a few days for your brain to adapt to what you see.

There are some doctors, and I say some, because many are awesome and helpful but some may do testing that isn't always necessary. I am not saying this person you saw is anything like that, but I think it is worth a second opinion and by a more highly qualified doctor.



Read some books on lenses.



The alarm bells starts ringing when you mentioned that the astigmatism was similar in BOTH eyes before this incident in the pool....
Astigmatism has to do with the curvature of the cornea... and if you scratched your cornea.. deep enough down to the stroma level, you could disrupt the tensile strengths of the collagen fibres that gives the cornea it's curvature. This could certainly cause Astigmatism!!!

Again, it depends on the severity of the scratch on your cornea... once the cornea heals, you could expect your Rx to return to its original values.. but don't bet on it.

As for Keratonus, it's unlikely... as the scratch must be so severe to the extent that that area weakens sooo much to form a bump or a cone, bulging forwards...

The best thing to do is to see an Optometrist/Ophthalmologist who has a Corneal Topographer who can map the surface of your whole cornea to see how the scratch as altered the curvatures of your L eye.



The Sphere or sph is the prescription over the whole of your eye. The Cylinder or cyl, is the prescription over an angle of your eye and the axis shows us where the angle is.

I would say that you would need to wear glasses for driving and television but its up to you and how you feel with them

I scratched my cornea and got better after a month or so of drops. My prescription did change hower it may depend where the scratch is. Mine was a 6mm scratch over the cornea and pupil so it drastically changed my vision, however if yours isnt over your pupil you may not notice. It very much depends on where it is and how bad it is.

Make sure you keep going for check ups to make sure you dont develop keractonus. Its very nasty and quite painful.

Diabetic Retinopathy Eye Screener, Optical Advisor




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