A 40 year-old patient came to our office complaining of blurred vision in her left eye more than her right eye. She had worn glasses in the past and her contact lenses were never clear out of her left eye. She stated that her astigmatism was worse in her left eye than her right. Below are her test results using the Visionix VX-120 screening technology that is tested on every patient at our clinic.
Astigmatism occurs when the light that enters the eye is out of focus, causing blurred vision whether looking far away or up close. It is a very common condition and seen daily at our office. The cause of astigmatism is usually due to the front part of the eye called the cornea being more curved in one meridian than the other meridian. Think of the eye as a clock that goes from 12 – 6 in one meridian and 3 – 9 in the other meridian. One meridian is more curved than the other meridian resulting in astigmatism. This results in the eye being more shaped like a “football” rather than a baseball, this is called regular astigmatism.
Our patient has a condition called pellucid marginal degeneration which causes the bottom part of the front surface of the eye (cornea) to be thinner than the rest of the cornea resulting in irregular astigmatism. It is a slowly progressive disease that gets worse over many years. This is the reason why her traditional astigmatism contact lenses never fit her well and were always uncomfortable. In the past, she was never screened for this condition and was glad she finally knew why her left eye was more blurry than her right eye. Fortunately, there are options to correct her vision, one of the best options is a specialized contact lens called a scleral lens. A scleral lens differs from a normal contact lens in that it can correct irregular astigmatism. She was thrilled with this option and will return to our office for a custom contact lens fitting to improve her vision.
Call our office today 925-743-1222 to schedule an eye appointment to be screened by this innovative technology.
