You’ve probably seen this viral tweet making the rounds lately.
The tweet gained immense popularity and led people to believe that the two photos accurately show the difference between someone with astigmatism and someone without. Cases in point:
https://twitter.com/SamtheToaster/status/1110267395522875392?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.buzzfeednews.com%2Farticle%2Flaurenstrapagiel%2Fviral-tweet-astigmatism
But, according to Dr. Samuel D. Pierce, president of the American Optometric Association and someone who suffers from astigmatism, the images from that tweet are not a good representation of the condition.
Pierce said, “To be perfectly honest, I don’t think it’s the best representation of the way astigmatism looks through the eyes of someone with astigmatism. It did not look like astigmatism to me, and I can say that because I have astigmatism.” Pierce said the photos in the viral tweet look more like a simple glare. He added, “Astigmatism is not a source of glare, it’s a source of blur.”
Astigmatism occurs when your eye is shaped differently than normal; an astigmatic cornea is extra curved, which causes a refractive error.
Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons
If you think you might have astigmatism or any other eye condition, go see an optometrist and don’t rely on a bunch of folks from Twitter to convince you something is wrong.
Just a good life-lesson in general.
