By: Santo
We come across people who have problems with their eye-sight daily. Some of them wear spectacles to avoid the problem while there are some who have not yet recognized that they are visually impaired. A person with a 20/20 vision will never have to worry about their eye-sight and a person who is doesn’t possess a 20/20 vision can overcome the situation simply through medication. But have it ever occurred to you that there a lot more people in-between these two types. They are the ones who do not know what is wrong with their vision; they are the ones who have not yet discovered they are suffering with visual impairment.
Astigmatism is one such eye condition where the spectator sees a slightly different picture of whatever he or she looks into when compared with a person who has a normal eye condition. The twitter account @UnusualFacts6 that publishes the most horrific and weird facts on the internet posted a photo that showed the difference between what people with astigmatism see and what people without it see and it went viral on the internet. When the cornea of a person’s eye is slightly curved rather than completely round then he or she is recognized as a person with astigmatism. This makes the person to see lights with more illumination than the others because the light focuses on several points of the retina rather than just one point.
Check out these photos that show the difference between having astigmatism and not having it. The differences will make you doubt whether you too have got astigmatism.
Image credit & More info: Unusual Facts
This is the tweet that Went viral by showing how people with and without astigmatism view light.


Image credits: UnusualFacts6
A normal eye has both the cornea and lens curved in a rounded shape, whereas people with astigmatism have one of these elements in an egg shape. In a perfect eye, the rounded shape of the cornea and lens refract any incoming light to produce a sharply focused image on the retina.
Can you see how the light illuminates focusing on different points?

Image credits: UnusualFacts6
There are two different types of astigmatism: corneal astigmatism, where the mismatched curves occur in the cornea, and lenticular astigmatism where the curves in the lens are mismatched. Astigmatism is however combined with other refractive errors like nearsightedness and farsightedness. The end result of astigmatism is a slightly blurred picture.
This is how a person without astigmatism views the lights. His or her vision focuses on a single point forming a clear image.

Image credits: UnusualFacts6
Symptoms of astigmatism are blurry vision, eyestrain, headaches and difficulty in seeing at night. These symptoms can be treated with the use of glasses, contact lenses and through refractive surgery once the condition is clearly identified.
This is the difference between the eyes of a person with and without astigmatism. You can see the difference caused by the focal point.

Image credits: wikipedia
According to studies and reports from the World Health Organization, refractive errors are also the first cause of visual impairments and the second cause of visual loss worldwide, as 43% of global visual impairments are due to refractive errors.
See how people reacted when they realized the difference between having and not having astigmatism.

Image credits: CallmeconnorA

Image credits: UnusualFacts6

Image credits: TambetKask

Image credits: UnusualFacts6

Image credits: biigchungus
By looking at this image this is how a few people discovered they have got astigmatism, because this image has been normal to them.

Image credits: DohBoyGetnMoney

Image credits: aldnox
Astigmatism never stood in the way of success achieved by many great artists.

Image credits: wikipedia
El Greco of the Spanish Renaissance who was a painter, architect, and sculptor is said to have has astigmatism. He is well known for his paintings that consisted of elongated figures which later on ophthalmologist German Beritens argued in 1913 that it was due to his refractive condition.