People have often heard these terms but may still wonder what is presbyopia and astigmatism. They are both different types of refractive (focussing) problems with the eye. Their cause, symptoms, and how they get diagnosed are different too. To determine whether you may be suffering from these, you will need to go to an optometrist to get an eye health test. However, to answer these questions, we must first ask, what is presbyopia and what is astigmatism?

What is Astigmatism?
Astigmatism is quite common and is influenced by your eye’s shape. Any light that enters the eye must be appropriately focused on the retina to ensure the eye can see well. If the image is not focused, then there is an irregularity in the eye. This can be down to the shape of the eye. An eye without astigmatism will usually have a cornea curved equally in all directions like a football. In those with astigmatism, the cornea is curved more in one direction, like a rugby ball.
How Can You Treat Astigmatism?
Astigmatism can cause blurry vision, double images, headaches, and eye strain. If the symptoms are severe, this can affect your everyday life.
To treat astigmatism, you must book an eye test to be formally diagnosed. Then you can be provided glasses and/or contact lenses to relieve the symptoms. Contact lenses may include hard or soft materials with innovative technology allowing for excellent results.
What is Presbyopia?
To see efficiently, the eye must quickly focus on near and distant images. To do this, the lens itself needs to change shape and act like a magnifier for objects nearer and behave like a telescope for objects off in the distance.
However, the eye can no longer change shape when someone has Presbyopia. Those with Presbyopia often have blurred vision looking at near objects, so they might have difficulty doing tasks such as reading close to. This change usually starts for people in their mid 40’s.
How can you treat Presbyopia?
To treat Presbyopia, an eye test must first take place to identify it. For some people who require glasses principally for seeing far-away images, they may be able to read up close without glasses.. For others, it will be the opposite way around, and after their eyesight test, it will be concluded that the patient needs glasses specifically to see images close to them. Sometimes, varifocal glasses or contact lenses can be considered to enable good vision at all distances, simultaneously. and this is why it is important to know what is presbyopia and what it consists of.
What are the differences between astigmatism and Presbyopia?
As you can see, the main difference between the two syndromes are in the causes. The symptoms can often be similar so an eye test is important to identify the correct treatment. Astigmatism is due to irregular eye shape. Presbyopia, on the other hand, is usually caused by ageing when the eye can no longer change shape when it needs to refocus on something up close.
If you suspect that you might be suffering from one of these issues or another eye health-related issue, after learning about what is Presbyopia and Astigmatism, please get in touch with us at Dolphins Optometrists, where we can get you booked in for an eye test with one of our friendly experts. Contact us today on 01444 454808 or hello@dolphinsoptometrists.co.uk.
Article: Phoenix Marketing