Could You Have An Eye Astigmatism?

Can Cataract Surgery Cure Astigmatism?

During a typical cataract surgery, the ophthalmologist removes the cloudy lens in the eye and replaces it with a clear artificial lens, called an intraocular lens. The ophthalmologist must first remove the cornea to reach the lens. While the surgeon has the cornea out, they will make small incisions to the edges of a misshapen cornea and insert the intraocular lens. Correcting astigmatism, however, requires the ophthalmologist to vary the typical cataract surgery.

The most successful variation is to use a toric intraocular lens instead of the standard, as these have the necessary astigmatism correction built in, though the ophthalmologist must order them specifically. The good news with the toric intraocular lens is a lessened reliance on corrective eyeglasses after the surgery is over. The other option for correcting astigmatism during cataract surgery is for the surgeon to perform limbal relaxing incisions, but these are only able to correct some astigmatism, and it is almost impossible to tell if they are successful until later.