What is Astigmatism? Whether you’ve just been diagnosed, or you’re a long-time toric lens wearer wondering what the best color contact lenses for you are, we’ve got the information you need. Here’s Dimple’s easy guide to color contacts for astigmatism.

Astigmatism simply means your lens or cornea is an irregular shape, so light refracts differently in the eye. This means light rays don’t quite arrive on the retina as they should, causing blurs in your vision. It’s especially noticeable when you look at light sources. It’s very common for astigmatism to also have a degree of near- or farsightedness.

What causes astigmatism? Lens shape is not a default in humans. We each have our own particular lens shape. So far, we aren’t sure why some lenses develop with the distortions that cause astigmatism, but it often develops naturally. Certain eye diseases, accidents, injuries, or surgeries can also cause it to develop. Rumors like reading in low light or sitting close to the TV are, however, myths.

Your optometrist will advise you if they spot the tell-tale signs of astigmatism during your annual appointment. However, the most common symptom of astigmatism you might notice in daily life is the ‘starburst’ effect on lights, particularly lights at night like street lamps. Instead of seeing a single point of light, it appears like a starburst. Other signs are frequent headaches and eyestrain, needing to squint to clear your vision or noticing blurs/distortions in your vision field, or general eye discomfort. Astigmatism often occurs with issues seeing long distances, so many people discover it as they learn to drive.

It’s very common for those wanting to wear color contact lenses to worry that their astigmatism will cause issues. However, modern contact lens technology has advanced in leaps and bounds, especially since we were able to evolve past the ‘hard’ or gas-permeable contact lens.

Wearing contacts of any kind with astigmatism does need slightly different handling than wearing ‘normal’ contacts. Since the advent of soft contacts for astigmatism, however, these rules are barely different than for general contact lens wearing. You will need to stick to of 8 hours wear time, make sure to consult annually with your optometrist to make sure the fit is good and not hurting your eye, and keep your eyes well moisturized. You should also make sure to choose only the very highest quality, prescription contacts. Colored contacts are, however, perfectly safe for astigmatism provided they are in your prescription and fitted to your eye.

Yes. Not only must the shape of color contacts for astigmatism be correctly shaped to refract light into your eye the right way, you likely also need some correction of your vision for distance. This can only responsibly be done by a proper optometrist. These are toric lenses. Remember, it always pays to have your color contacts properly fitted to your eye, anyway, so this is actually a positive. While there is some fear-mongering around reduced oxygen permeability in color eye lenses, the science on this is still divided. We advise simply sticking to the max wear time, cleaning your lenses scrupulously, and making sure to never go beyond a month per lens set.

It’s Dimple’s mission to provide both prescription and non-prescription color contact lenses of superior quality and appearance. We use a special design and formula to ensure moisture-rich, comfortable lenses that look and feel great.

We offer two key color contact lens collections. Mellow brings you natural-looking color contacts that looks believable and natural. Hello brings you a more saturated, dramatic color eye lens that pops. No matter what your tastes, you’re sure to find something that dazzles. Why not explore the Dimple collection today.