Astigmatism Axis Cylinder

"Astigmatism axis cylinder" is justl part of the testing that an eye doctor does on your eyes to see if you need glasses or contacts.

First, your eye doctor records the information for your right eye. He (or she) records the Sphere, Cylinder and Axis measurements. This where you get the bit about astigmatism axis cylinder...

Sphere shows how nearsighted or farsighted you are. Cylinder measures the degree of Asigmatism of your central cornea (lens). The Cylinder number is the difference in Diopters between the steepest and lowest curves of your cornea.

The Axis measurement is the number of degrees from horizontal.

The figures for your Right Eye are always listed first, and will be marked "O.D.", which is Latin, "R.E." or just "R" for Right eye.

Your Left Eye gets charted as "O.S." in Latin, "L.E." or "L" for Left eye.

Doctors have always used Latin to disguise what they were talking about from their clients, as did Lawyers. This is just like some trades and professions today which use lots of technical jargon, and "astigmatism axis cylinder" is a perfect example.

Astigmatism is normally treated with glasses or RPG lenses.