Uncorrected Astigmatism and consequences?

I was told I have astigmatism years ago but my new optometrist at America's Best didn't give me toric contacts to correct it.

Will this make my astigmatism get worse or are there other effects like headaches if I wear these regular contacts over a period of time?

btw the America's best doctor never mentioned anything about astigmatism either. Should I be concerned? I'm also getting glasses with his prescription.

Right... Several issues.

First of all, astigmatism is no big deal. If you measure accurately enough everyone has it, but for many the amount would be too small to require correction or appear on a spectacle Rx. It's only a version of short or long sight.

Since correcting astigmatism on a contact lens is more awkward than with spectacles, and incurs extra expense, it is an accepted practice to give spherical contacts where the spectacle Rx has a small degree of astigmatism.
The point at which the astigmatism needs to be corrected with a toric contact lens will vary from person to person. There's no rule that "0.50DC can be ignored, 1.00DC must be corrected".

No, not having the astigmatism corrected will not make it worse. It may or may not cause a little extra fatigue. The degree to which uncorrected astigmatism bothers people is very unpredictable. I've know people with 2.00D of astigmatism or more who could not be bothered to wear it, especially with the negative cyl axis near the horizontal.
(marked astigmatism, uncorrected, in young children, may lead to astigmatic amblyopia).

At your next exam, ask for a demonstation of what your Rx looks like with and without your astigmatism or, at a contact lens check, ask them to hold up the missing astigmatic component over your contacts.
Then you can better judge whether the extra vision is worth the extra cost, and possible inconvenience: toric contact lenses do not always stabilise correctly on the eye, and then they really can be more trouble than they're worth.

Optometrist, retired.

Your astigmatism might not be there with contacts on. It might be worse. Your glasses prescription is supposed to eliminate astigmatism. Not wearing torics will not make your astigmatism worse.

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