Conventional cataract surgery can restore your blurry vision and eliminate nearsightedness or farsightedness.  It, however, cannot correct other refractive errors such as astigmatism.

What is astigmatism?

Sometimes, the surface of the cornea is curved more like a football, with both flatter and steeper curves, than like a spherical basketball.  

Eye with a normal spherical cornea and  an astigmatic eye with a more ellipsoid cornea

When the surface of the cornea has an uneven curvature, the resulting vision is distorted.  This common irregularity, called  “corneal astigmatism,” causes blurred or distorted vision because light rays are not focused at one spot to provide clear vision.

A person who has both a cataract and a corneal astigmatism will not regain high-quality distance vision after cataract surgery unless the astigmatism is also corrected.

There are a few astigmatism correcting options available to be used in conjunction with cataract surgery:

• LRI
• LASIK 
• TORIC IOL
• Glasses
• Contact Lenses