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The days when you could not wear contact lenses, or had to wear uncomfortable hard contacts because you had astigmatism are over. Improvements in technology have created toric lens that can be used to improve the vision of people who suffer from this vision problem. Toric lens have two refractive powers in the lens as well as a centering feature to ensure that the lens sits properly on the surface of the eye for proper vision correction. Toric lenses are available as soft lenses as well as in disposable variants.

To get an idea of how severe your astigmatism is, here are some tips on how to read the contact lenses prescription that your eye care provider will give you. The first number to look at is the cylinder (CYL) which is expressed in diopters. The higher the number the greater your astigmatism. There may also be a plus or minus sign next to the number, which indicates if you have myopic (+) astigmatism, or hyperopic (-) astigmatism. Myopic astigmatism means the eye is nearsighted while hyperopic astigmatism means it is farsighted. Another number you have to be familiar with is the AXIS, which measures the orientation of the cylinder power in the lens and is expressed in degrees, with 0 the lowest and 180 the highest degree.

If you have mild astigmatism, you may be able to wear ordinary spherical gas permeable contact lenses. Gas permeable lenses are rigid contacts that correct astigmatism by sitting on top of the irregular surface of the eye, replacing the asymmetric shape with the spherical surface of the lens. Spherical GP lenses also have the same power throughout the entire lens so that you'll still enjoy the same vision correction even if it moves on your cornea. However, this option is only available for astigmatics that have a curvature of less than 1.00 diopter. If your astigmatism is more than this, you may still be able to wear spherical GP contacts but may feel less comfortable than if you wear toric gas permeable lenses. Your eye care provider may also prescribe expressly made spherical GP lenses that provide vision correction without the issues associated with toric lenses. However, if you wear spherical lenses you may have to sacrifice some visual clarity in exchange for greater comfort.

Depending on your prescription, you may also have the choice to buy toric disposable contact lenses that you will throw away after a certain prescribed period and replace with a new pair. Typical replacement periods are daily, midweekly and monthly, although some types of disposable lenses can be worn for as long as two months. You can even get colored contacts that will change your eye color or augment the natural color of your eye.

It should be noted that it may take you longer to be fitted for toric lenses as your eye care practitioner may have to experiment with different powers before finding the one that gives you the best vision correction. Toric lenses may also be more expensive than regular contact lenses.