Farsightedness

Symptoms and causes

Farsightedness, also known as hypermetropia, occurs when the cornea is too flat or the eyeball is too short. These conditions prevent light entering the eye from being refracted enough to focus directly on the retina. Instead, the image you see is focused behind the retina. For farsighted people, nearby objects appear blurrier than those at a distance. For example, if you were sitting on a restaurant terrace, the menu would appear blurry while the surrounding landscape would be in focus. However, the belief that farsighted people always see well at a distance is incorrect. Often, farsighted individuals see poorly both near and far. People who suffer only from age-related farsightedness (presbyopia) can see well at a distance because they have no refractive anomalies and their lens remains in a relaxed state. Farsighted people often experience headaches when doing close-up work.

Farsightedness develops much less frequently than myopia, and its prevalence increases with age. In a medical report, farsightedness is usually indicated by a number preceded by a plus sign.

Treatment options for farsightedness

Farsightedness can be corrected with glasses or contact lenses to change the direction of light rays in the eye. Patients often need to wear glasses or lenses either all the time or only for reading, computer work, or other close-up tasks. It is also beneficial to follow recommendations for strengthening eyesight. If you wish to get rid of glasses and contact lenses once and for all, surgical treatment options are available.

Laser vision correction

Although glasses and contact lenses help to manage farsightedness, they can be compared to a cast and crutches — a temporary solution that allows you to function but does not eliminate the root cause of the problem as surgical intervention can.

Intraocular correction

Intraocular lenses are designed to correct a high degree of astigmatism. If laser correction is not suitable for you, don’t despair — there are other ways to achieve the desired result. The British Ophthalmology Center offers several types of surgeries that can help. During your consultation, we will determine whether surgery is contraindicated for you and choose the best surgical option for your case.