Our last updates!
In the first part of this article, we saw what astigmatism really is: an eye whose optical power varies with direction, with two focal points instead of one. We also saw that it can be regular or irregular, and that it comes from the cornea, from the crystalline lens, or from both at once.
Astigmatism is extremely common. Yet when a patient reads "cylinder -1.25 at 90°" on their prescription, they rarely understand what it actually means. Astigmatism is often described by saying that the eye is "shaped like a rugby ball rather than a football". The image is easy to picture, but it does not really explain the defect.
On 12 August 2026, an exceptional solar eclipse will be visible from Belgium. In the early evening, the Moon will pass in front of the Sun and will cover nearly 90% of its disc. This will be the largest partial eclipse visible here since the eclipse of 1999.
"Doctor, is your laser the most recent one?" The question comes up often in consultation, and it is a fair one. Modern LASIK platforms offer several treatment strategies, called ablation profiles: optimized wavefront, guided wavefront, topography-guided, and, more recently, ray-tracing guided. Every manufacturer promotes its own. So which one should you choose?
LASIK is more than thirty years old. Millions of people have been treated worldwide, and the earliest patients now have several decades of hindsight. One question comes up again and again in consultation: “Doctor, does it last a lifetime?”
Living without glasses or contact lenses is now possible for a great number of patients, but not with just any technique, nor at just any age. Eligibility for refractive surgery depends on a set of criteria: your age, the prescription of each eye, the thickness of your cornea and… your lifestyle. In this article, we review these criteria, then offer you an interactive simulator to get a first personalised orientation.
Some days your vision is sharp; on others it blurs and fluctuates from one moment to the next. We readily blame fatigue, age or screens. Yet the first culprit is often invisible: the tear film that coats your eyes.
A study published in Cell Reports in 2026 proposes a new hypothesis about the mechanisms behind myopia: it may not be screens themselves that drive its development, but rather the reduction in light reaching the retina during prolonged near work in poorly lit indoor environments. Researchers at SUNY College of Optometry (New York) show that pupil constriction linked to accommodation — the natural reflex that makes nearby images sharp — is more pronounced in myopes, further reducing retinal illumination.
Presbyopia, the diminished ability of the eye to focus close objects after 40, is a challenge for many. Fortunately, an innovative solution is on the horizon: pilocarpine-based eye drops.
A Cochrane organization review critically examines the usefulness of blue light filters. Blue light filtering glasses have become a common accessory, especially for those who spend a lot of time in front of screens. However, a recent Cochrane study raises questions about their actual effectiveness.
