Eye Care - Farsightedness/Hyperopia

People with farsightedness, or hyperopia, see distant objects clearly, but close-up objects appear blurry. This is a result of the eye being too short; causing images to focus at a point beyond the retina.

Symptoms:

People with farsightedness tend to hold reading materials at a distance, and sit far away from the television. In children, the eyes will attempt to compensate for mild farsightedness – this “focusing” process is called accommodation. As we age, the eye loses its ability to accommodate.

    

Presbyopia is similar to farsightedness in that objects very near tend to blur. Specifically, presbyopia causes blurred vision at normal reading distance. It is caused by a hardening of the lens, and is a normal aging process. Presbyopia affects people with normal vision, nearsightedness, farsightedness or astigmatism, and begins to affect most people in their 40’s.

Diagnosis and Treatment:
A routine eye exam by an optometrist can confirm whether someone is farsighted. Typically a Snellen test is performed. The Snellen test is an eye chart using letters of decreasing size to enable the optometrist to determine how far an individual can see, and whether they are nearsighted, farsighted, or have astigmatism.

The optometrist may also test for glaucoma, examine the cornea using a slit lamp microscope, and an ophthalmoscope to reveal problems with the retina, macula, and optic nerve.

If farsightedness persists past childhood, your optometrist may prescribe glasses or contact lenses to change the way an image focuses on the retina.