MENU
Farsightedness, also called hyperopia, occurs when the eye is too short or the cornea has too little curvature, so light entering the eye isn't focused correctly.
Hyperopia, a common vision condition that occurs when the eyeball is too long or the lens cannot focus properly on near objects. It is also called farsightedness and can be corrected with eyeglasses, contact lenses or refractive surgery.
In hyperopia, light focuses behind the retina rather than on it. The eyes tend to look larger because they are trying to compensate for this focusing problem by accommodating more. This can cause headaches in children and teens with hyperopia who spend long periods of time looking at close-up objects such as books or computer screens.
You may have heard the term "hyperopia," or “farsightedness,” used to describe someone who has trouble seeing objects up close. Hyperopia is a common vision impairment that can occur at any age and affects both children and adults. The most common cause of hyperopia is a genetic defect; however, many cases of hyperopia develop in adulthood as well as in childhood due to aging or trauma. In some cases, tumors can cause this condition and other eye diseases can also lead to hyperopia.
The diagnosis of hyperopia is made by your optometrist (eye doctor) during an eye exam. Your eye doctor will perform a complete eye exam and ask about your symptoms.
They will look for signs on the surface of the cornea, as well as signs in other parts of the eye that are associated with hyperopia.
For people with hyperopia, treatment options include:
This is performed by an eye doctor who uses a laser to reshape the cornea. The advantage of this procedure is that it can be donein only a few minutes and recovery time is short. One disadvantage of this type of surgery is that it may not always work for everyone and it does have some risks involved (such as leaving scars on your cornea).
If you want to avoid surgery but still want to correct your vision, then corrective prescription glasses or contact lenses may be an option for you. With contact lenses, they do require regular care and cleaning—so if you don’t like having something in or near your eyes while sleeping or at other times when you’re not wearing them (and who does?), then contact lenses are probably not right for you and you would could opt for corrective glasses instead. Also, remember that contact lenses may make things blurry again after they've been removed so there will still be some tweaking needed before seeing clearly without them
Farsightedness occurs when the eye is too short or the cornea has too little curvature, so light entering the eye isn't focused correctly.
This causes distant objects to appear blurry and close-up objects to appear sharp.
In general, hyperopia is a condition that should be monitored over time. If you notice any of the signs or symptoms listed above, it's important to contact your optometrist (eye doctor) as soon as possible.
