Farsightedness

In farsightedness, also called hyperopia, nearby objects appear blurry. Due to the eye muscles’ ability to contract, it is still possible—especially at a young age—to change the lens curvature (accommodation) to a certain extent and thereby compensate for the vision defect. For a person affected by farsightedness, much stronger accommodation is required to see clearly up close than for someone with normal vision. This often leads to symptoms such as eye or headaches, fatigue, burning sensations in the eyes, tearing, recurring conjunctivitis, or blurred vision. In children, compensating for farsightedness can cause inward turning of the eyes (esotropia or convergent strabismus). Hyperopia in childhood should always be detected early and treated if necessary, because otherwise it can lead to permanent vision impairment (so-called amblyopia).

If there is a mismatch between the refractive power and the axial length of the eye, this is called farsightedness (hyperopia, hypermetropia). In affected individuals, a blurred image of nearby objects is formed behind the retina.

Farsightedness occurs either due to insufficient refractive power of the light-bending structures (lens, cornea) with a normal axial length of the eye, or due to a too short eye axis with normal refractive power. Farsightedness can result from diseases or changes in the cornea or from inadequate axial growth. Additionally, lens displacement or absence of the lens can lead to farsightedness. Hyperopia is often hereditary.

During an eye examination at our clinics, both the internal and external parts of the eyes are examined under magnification, allowing any diseases or disorders of specific sections of the eye to be identified as potential causes of farsightedness. Additionally, a vision test is performed to check both near and distance vision. Using lenses placed in front of the eye during a procedure called refraction assessment, the degree of deviation of the eye’s refractive media from the norm is determined. The resulting value indicates the prescription strength needed for glasses or contact lenses.

For young patients, the determination of refractive values is done with the accommodation ability switched off. This is achieved by administering special eye drops that temporarily paralyze the lens’s ability to change shape (so-called cycloplegia) for a few hours.

Patients who suffer from nearsightedness (myopia) can only see distant objects clearly — objects far away appear blurry. However, their vision up close is usually clear and unrestricted. In contrast, patients with farsightedness (hyperopia) see nearby objects as blurry or can only focus on them with increased effort.

Laser therapy can change the shape, thickness, or surface of the cornea, thereby altering its refractive power. There are also lens implants that can correct farsightedness from inside the eye.

In addition to the conservative correction of farsightedness using glasses or contact lenses, there are nowadays also options for surgical correction, which involve a permanent change to the refractive power of the cornea. During laser treatment, the superficial shape of the cornea is altered according to the vision defect. With lens implants, which can correct farsightedness inside the eye, a positive refractive artificial lens is implanted into the eye to correct the vision error.