Almost all cases can be corrected with glasses or contacts. But if you only have slight astigmatism — your doctor may refer to it as a degree — and you don’t have another vision problem, you may not need them.

Irregular astigmatism is far less common and is linked to problems with your cornea, the front part of the eye. A common one is keratoconus, in which your normally round cornea becomes cone-shaped.

There are two treatments for the common levels of astigmatism:

Corrective lenses. That means glasses or contacts. If you have astigmatism, your doctor will probably prescribe a special type of soft contact lenses called toric. They can be made to bend light more in one direction than the other. If your case is more severe, you might go with a gas-permeable rigid contact lens. Your eye doctor will figure out which one is best for you.

Refractive surgery. This laser surgery changes the shape of your cornea. There’s more than one type, so your doctor will help you pick the one that’s right for you. You’ll need to have healthy eyes with no retina problems or corneal scars.