Hyperopia or far sightedness
Hyperopia or farsightedness is a refractive error in which your near vision is blurry, but distant objects look clear. People of all ages can have farsightedness. An eye condition, Presbyopia, can also cause blurred vision at near, but it usually happens after 40 years of age.
Symptoms of hyperopia
-Blurred vision at near.
-Headache
-Misaligned eyes
Causes of hyperopia
Short eyes
In a healthy eye, the light should focus on the retina for clear vision. When eyes are shorter than standard length, the light rays come to focus behind the retina, causing blurred vision at near.
Cornea too flat
Having a flat cornea means that the light rays are focused at far. When your cornea is too flat, the image is formed behind the retina instead of on it, which causes blurry vision at near.
Genetic
Like myopia or astigmatism, it can be inherited.
How is hyperopia diagnosed?
Hyperopia is diagnosed during a comprehensive eye exam. Your doctor will check your vision and refractive status to determine the prescription for glasses. Hyperopia may not be manifested all the time. In the accomodating eyes, it may be latent. Initial eye tests can not always reveal hidden hyperopia, which can be mistaken for normal eyes. For this reason, doctors usually dilate their eyes to relax the accomodation so that the latent or hidden hyperopia becomes apparent. The power of accommodation is higher in children than in adults.
How is hyperopia treated?
Prescription
Glasses and contacts are the most common methods to treat hyperopia. Eyeglass or contact lens prescription can be of low strength or high strength. If you need strong glasses for hyperopia, it can create magnification as a side effect and increases the size of the image. You should choose aspheric high index lenses to reduce magnification.
Laser eye surgery
LASIK, PRK, LASEK are some of the laser procedures to correct hyperopia. The Laser eye surgery is an alternative to glasses or contacts. If you do not want to be dependent on glasses or contact lenses, you can choose eye vision surgery. Talk to your doctor if you are a good candidate for eye vision surgery.
Complications
Treating hyperopia is very important, specially for children. Children with high accomodation constantly forces their eyes to see clear at near, which can eventually result in misaligned eyes. Forcing eyes may also cause headache, eye strain and pain. Untreated hyperopia can also cause lazy eye (amblyopia). If not treated until the age of 8, the affected eye becomes permanently weak, which can not be treated with glasses or surgery in future.