Hyperopia - longsightedness

Understanding how the eye works is important. Light enters the eye through the cornea and then this light is refracted and bended so that an image is produced on the retina. If the dome shape of your cornea is altered or abnormal then the light will bend in the wrong way and thus, the image on the retina will be distorted or fuzzy. Hyperopia is a result of the refractive errors that occur when focusing and bending the light.

What are some of the symptoms of hyperopia?

Hyperopia is a refractive error of the eyes that is also known as farsightedness, being farsighted, or being longsighted. If you have hyperopia, you will have difficulty seeing objects at a close distance. Your vision will be blurred when you focus on nearby objects or at close objects.

Farsighted people usually have headaches, eyestrain, and frequent squinting. They usually feel tired when they are working. They feel a pulling or a burning sensation in their eyes. There is one disorder called presbyopia and it has similar symptoms with hyperopia. Both disorders have difficulty in seeing objects up close.

What are the causes of hyperopia?

If your cornea is too flat or if your eye is too short then this will cause hyperopia. The eyeballs of farsighted people are shorter than the average person and some scientists and researchers believe that this trait is inherited. There is still debate and there is no consensus on this matter although if hyperopia runs in your family, there is likelihood that it will affect you as well. People who are hyperopic may get better as they grow up because the eyeball becomes longer from normal growth.

Young people who have mild hyperopia may still be able to see clearly both up close and from afar. This is because their natural lens adjusts to the focus of the eyes. When the ability to adjust is lost, the blurry visions from hyperopia start to become present.

How do you diagnose hyperopia?

People who experience the symptoms of hyperopia are usually wearing some sort of aid in the form of contact lenses or prescription glasses. Sometimes the doctor will recommend refractive surgery. The best action to take if ever you have hyperopia is to get in touch with your optometrist, optician, or doctor as soon as possible.

Eye tests are recommended every two years according to the College of Optometrists. The older you are means that you need to have more frequent tests. You should consult with your optometrist on how frequent you should have your eye visits. Your optometrist can diagnose your hyperopia by dilating your eyes. In this way, you will not be able to conceal your farsightedness by accommodating it. This accommodation is known as wet refraction. Prescriptions that have positive numbers like +3 means that your eyes are hyperopic.

What are the treatments that are available for hyperopia?

Treating hyperopia means that your eyes need help on focusing light. This can be done by using corrective lenses or by going through refractive surgery.

Using corrective lenses

Most young people have eyes that are flexible enough to adjust to their hyperopia. Their ability to focus on nearby objects allows them to go on without the use of corrective lenses. However, as these young children grow up and become adults, their eye muscles become less flexible and will need corrective lenses already. These corrective lenses treat farsightedness by improving on the decreased curvature of the cornea or the shorter length of your eye. Here are some types of corrective lenses used nowadays

  • eyeglasses – there are several types of eyeglasses used nowadays. They come in bifocals, trifocals, and the simple reading glasses or lenses
  • contact lenses – there are several types of contact lenses in the market today. You can choose from soft contact lenses, bifocal contact lenses, extended wear contact lenses, disposable contact lenses, rigid gas permeable or RGP lenses, and hard contact lenses. You can ask the doctor about the advantages and the disadvantages of each type of contact lens so that you can select the right kind.

The monovision contact lenses are mostly used by people who are farsighted and who are starting to develop presbyopia. You do not need to correct the eyes for distance vision if you are using monovision contacts for your dominant eye, the eye which can see far objects. You may use contact lenses for looking at objects up close for your weaker eye. Those who use this technique aren’t able to see in three dimensions but instead, they are able to see objects up close and look at objects from afar using each eye. The monovision contacts can be worn anytime the user wants to.

There are also modified monovision contact lenses available in the market today. These modified contact lenses work by wearing a bifocal lens on the weaker eye and a special contact lens for your dominant eye. One of the lenses will be used to look at objects up close while the other lens will be used to look at objects at a distance.

Refractive Surgery

Usually the refractive surgical procedures are used for treating nearsightedness although they can also be used to treat farsightedness. These refractive surgery methods work by reshaping the abnormalities in your cornea, particularly related to curvature. Listed below are some of the refractive eye surgery methods used today

  • Laser-assisted in-situ keratomileusis – This is abbreviated as LASIK. In this process, the doctor will make a slim circular hinged cut into your cornea by using a special instrument called a keratome. A laser can also be used to make this sort of cut. The surgeon will elevate the flap and then use an excimer laser to sculpt the shape of the cornea underneath the flap. An excimer laser is a sort of laser that does not create heat and it is ideal for this kind of surgery.

  • Laser-assisted subepithelial keratomileusis – This is abbreviated as LASEK. In this sort of surgery, a thin layer of cornea is folded back. This is done so that the eye will not get as much damage compared to an absolute exposure. If you are into sports or if you are at risk of injuring your eyes then this sort of surgery is a better option for you.

  • Photorefractive Keratectomy – This is abbreviated as PRK. In this form of surgery, the external protective layer of your cornea is separated. After that, a laser is used to fix the curvature of your cornea.

  • Conductive Keratoplasty – This is abbreviated as CK. In this type of surgery, radiofrequency energy is used for applying heat in tiny spots in the cornea area. The kind of effect of this radiofrequency is comparable to a plastic wrap being stretched with heat. The change in the curvature of your cornea will depend on the spacing of the spots, the number of the spots, and the way the cornea will heal after the procedure. Results from CK vary from person to person.

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