Are you stressed about driving at night with astigmatism? And do you know that you are one of the three people with astigmatism vision in the U.S.A.? Yes, it’s that common! Therefore, experts do a lot of research to help people who see astigmatism light at night.
There is information on how to drive safely with astigmatism at night in this article. But first of all, let's deep dive into what astigmatism looks like and how it affects your vision.
Effects of Astigmatism on Your Vision
Astigmatism is a refractive error. That means the capacity of your eyes to refract light is not at par. Corneal and lenticular are two types of astigmatism. Usually, the shape of the cornea is round. But if you have corneal astigmatism, it is more of an oval shape instead of round. Whereas lenticular astigmatism is a condition where you have a misshapen lens.
The disturbing focus of lights because of an abnormal shape of cornea or lens generates astigmatism vision. Therefore you see blurry and distorted vision closely and from a distance as well. Astigmatism and night driving become a dangerous combination. It can be worse to have either near-sightedness or farsightedness or both with astigmatism.
Astigmatism at Night
As explained earlier, astigmatism doesn’t let your eyes properly focus on lights. So why does this issue aggravate at night? Whenever there is a low light situation like nights, your pupils dilate means they get bigger. It allows more light to get in your eyes to see better in darkness.
But with astigmatism vision, more light means more fuzziness and glare as more light bends in the wrong direction. And it is common for all the refractive errors like myopia, glaucoma, or cataracts to worsen at night.
Astigmatism and Night Driving
Driving at night with astigmatism is challenging. The traffic lights and the headlights of oncoming vehicles create glare. As a result, it becomes difficult for the person in the driving seat to focus on the road. Astigmatism presents different light patterns for everyone, but some of the common astigmatism visions at night are as follows:-
- More glare
- Streaky effects on lights
- Need of squinting to see clearly
- Blurred, hazy, or fuzzy vision
- Disturbance from light beams coming from headlights
- Seeing light halos around the traffic lights
If you see astigmatism vision at night, you shouldn’t take the risk of driving at night with astigmatism. And meet your eye doctor ASAP for advice.
Solutions for Astigmatism Lights at Night
Your first step should be to contact your eye doctor if you know or suspect you have astigmatism vision. They can prescribe corrective lenses for mild to moderate levels of astigmatism. But they will test your vision first for astigmatism vision or any other refractive error.
You may get the following solutions from your eye doctor to help you combat the issue of driving at night with astigmatism:-
Eyeglasses with lenses can resolve the issue of distorted astigmatism lights at night. Eyeglasses can correct other refractive errors like myopia hyperopia as well.
You can wear contact lenses instead of eyeglasses. They come in different types: gas permeable lenses, bifocal lenses, soft disposable lenses, etc.
During orthokeratology, you need to wear rigid contact lenses. They correct the shape of your cornea while you are sleeping. But it returns to its former shape when you stop wearing the rigid contact lenses.
It’s a surgical procedure during which a unique lens is implanted in your eyes, replacing your abnormally-shaped lens. It corrects the shape of your eyes. A toric lens implant is generally done for a patient suffering from cataract and astigmatism vision.
You can go for LASIK, a laser eye surgery, as a permanent solution. The intraocular lens implant is also quite popular. Both these procedures are non-invasive and can be done if your eye doctor recommends them.
Apart from these medical eye care solutions, you must also pay attention to these generic factors:-
When you are night driving with astigmatism, you need to plan your driving time carefully so that you can go slowly. Lower your interior cabin light and avoid looking directly into oncoming headlights. Also, don’t drive when you are sick or tired.
Keep windows, mirrors, and windshields of your car clean so that you can see clearly. Don’t forget the night setting of your rearview mirror.
To Summarize
Astigmatism lights at night are a cause of trouble until you don’t increase your knowledge on how to manage the symptoms of astigmatism vision. Consult your eye doctor for an appropriate solution and drive confidently despite astigmatism at night.
