People Are Realizing They Have Astigmatism After Comparison Tweet Goes Viral


Do you ever have difficulty driving at night? Sometimes, it may appear as if the lights of the cars in front of us are streaking all over the road or they may be blurred together in an indistinguishable mass.

You might feel as if this is normal and most people live with it but it is not normal at all. If you see lights like this at night, the likely problem is astigmatism in your eyes.

Most of us have at least some problem with our eyes, either being nearsighted or farsighted. When there is a slight curve to the cornea of the eye, however, it is a problem known as astigmatism. Because of the curve, light rays entering into the eye are not able to come into sharp focus which is why images look distorted. A good example and perhaps one we are most familiar with is the way that lights look at night while we’re driving.

When the cornea and lens are both in a rounded shape, you do not have astigmatism. The light entering into the eye comes into sharp focus. It keeps you from seeing the blurry lines that someone with astigmatism would see.

You may have a difficulty understanding what we are talking about but if that is the case, look at these images. The pictures went viral on Twitter and people are going crazy over them. Once they were posted, people begin to see how much of a problem astigmatism was for those who have it.

With Astigmatism:

Without Astigmatism:

People were shocked to see through the eyes of others and to know what they were seeing when they were driving at night.

“Holy sh*t I thought everyone saw the lines,” someone wrote. “When I was little I would squint to make ‘em longer to entertain myself, thought that was normal.”

“I had no clue this was a thing! Honestly just thought that’s how light worked!” someone else posted.

“You mean not everyone gets the streaky lines???” another person said in disbelief.

“This explains why a friend of mine doesn’t understand when I tell him “lens flare” is real life,” another person wrote. “He doesn’t see what I see every day. MIND BLOWN.”

There was even someone who tested it by looking at lights with and without their glasses: “Just removed my glasses and looked at a source of light and then put my glasses back on and I can testify that yes this is indeed accurate,” they said.

I have been dealing with astigmatism for most of my life and I can tell you that it is crazy when you realize not everybody sees the same thing you are seeing.

If you still see the lines but don’t know for sure if you have astigmatism, there are some other symptoms. Those symptoms can include eyestrain, headaches, blurred vision and difficulty seeing at night.

More than likely, any suspicion that you have astigmatism is going to be correct. In fact, the American Optometric Association said that most people are dealing with astigmatism, at least to a slight degree. It also can go along with other vision problems, such as nearsightedness and farsightedness.

If you have astigmatism, don’t be overly concerned. It isn’t serious and it can often be corrected with glasses.

h/t: TipHero


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