Astigmatism is condition where the patient experiences blurred vision due to the distortion of cornea. It causes the light rays to fall on the retina from a number of different angles, which makes the eye lose focus. This condition can be well corrected by wearing Toric Lens.
Well, toric lens is not much different from an ordinary contact lens so far as the material it is made of is concerned. It is different in that its one or both sides of the optical surface work as a cylindrical lens often combining it with spherical lens effects. It may happen sometimes that only one eye has astigmatism while the other is perfectly alright. In such cases the patients are advised to wear a Toric lens in one eye and a normal vision correction lens in the other.
Toric lenses, though made of the same material as the ordinary contact lenses, are effective in correcting both the cylindrical as well as spherical aberrations. Being asymmetrical around the center, they should not be rotated. They are designed to remain unaffected by the movement of the eyes.
Toric lenses need to be custom fitted to suit your eyes and so they take a little longer to be checked and re-checked to make sure that your vision is effectively corrected by the lenses and that they fit you properly. It is then that you can leave the specialist’s clinic and go home with your lenses.
It is not necessary that only Toric lenses can correct astigmatism. If it happens to be of a lesser degree a normal lens can effectively mask it. However, a higher degree of astigmatism can only be corrected by a soft toric lens, rigid contacts or spectacles. One may go for either a soft or rigid contacts. Soft lenses have an edge over the rigid ones in terms of comfort and adaptability while the rigid lenses score better than soft lenses in durability. Besides, rigid lenses are also a little easier to take care of than the soft ones. Many users also feel that rigid lenses give a crispier vision compared to the soft lenses.
Another option that is sometimes explored is the gas permeable lenses. They do not have any ability to correct astigmatism but their inflexibility makes them reshape the eyes. This helps correct the vision in cases of mild astigmatism. However, for higher degree of astigmatism Toric lenses seem to be the best available option.
