Hyperopia is a visual condition in which distance vision is clear, but near vision appears blurry.
If the eye is too short, the cornea is not curved enough, or the crystalline lens is too flat, light rays converge behind the retina. Because the eye’s focusing power is too weak, nearby objects appear blurry.
This vision problem is often compensated for by the eye’s natural lens, the crystalline lens, which must constantly exert extra effort to bring light rays into focus on the retina.
Signs and symptoms of hyperopia
The signs and symptoms related to the crystalline lens’s accommodative effort usually appear as eye strain and headaches. In young people with mild hyperopia, it can even be difficult to notice the condition because of the work the crystalline lens does to compensate. That is why it is important to have a visual acuity test with an optometrist during an eye exam.
Because uncorrected hyperopia requires constant effort from the crystalline lens, a person with hyperopia may often experience the effects of early presbyopia, often beginning in their early forties.
Hyperopia can be identified on a prescription by a + sign followed by a number indicating the diopter, often between 0.25 and 6.
What are the correction options?
Laser Corneal Surgery
For younger patients with low to moderate hyperopia (from +0.50 to +4.00 diopters), LASIK surgery can correct this vision problem.
Lens replacement surgery
For hyperopic patients in their fifties, intraocular lens surgery may be performed to correct both hyperopia and presbyopia at the same time.
Early presbyopia...
Unlike myopic patients, hyperopic patients tend to experience the symptoms of presbyopia earlier in life. Because a hyperopic person’s crystalline lens has had to work harder throughout life to bring light rays into focus on the retina, its natural aging process may occur sooner. As hyperopia progresses with age, near vision tends to become even more difficult for people with both hyperopia and presbyopia.
The evaluation
The pre-operative evaluation performed by our team of optometrists and opticians will determine whether you are a candidate for ULTRALASIK surgery or lens replacement surgery.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Hypermétropie
What is severe hyperopia?
Farsightedness beyond the +4.00 diopter mark is often hereditary and generally requires the wearing of glasses. A strong farsighted person has blurred near vision.
For young farsighted people
These prescriptions are not optimal for refractive laser surgery. A young candidate must have good corneal thickness on the periphery of the treatment area to allow the laser to sufficiently bulge the cornea in order to correct all of the prescription. In addition, people with strong hyperopia are more likely to have regression following laser treatment. If the professionals at the IRIS Ophthalmology Clinic notice too many contraindications to laser surgery, they may recommend another type of operation: the Phake intraocular lens.
For farsighted people in their 50s
Strong farsighted people have a better odds with intraocular lenses. Normally, a patient over the age of 50 with severe hyperopia can undergo intraocular lens surgery. These lenses, which replace the lens, allow the rays to converge directly on the retina for good near, far, or near and far vision simultaneously.
How is nearsightedness corrected?
For farsighted people, near vision can be corrected in two ways in order to allow you to see well near, far, or both simultaneously:
– Either by bulging the cornea (in LASIK);
– Either by replacing the lens with an intraocular lens with the right power.
What is the best treatment for farsightedness?
There is no “best” treatment for farsightedness. Each patient is different and that is why each assessment is personalized to you. If our professionals do not see almost all of the success factors for your surgery, they will take the time to explain to you why surgery would not be ideal.
What type of lens corrects hyperopia?
There are several types of intraocular lenses for different lifestyles. Some lenses like monofocal lenses allow you to see well at only one distance.
Other lenses such as diffractive multifocal lenses allow you to simultaneously have a good quality of near and far vision.
The evaluation with our optometrists will allow you to clearly identify your needs and allow you to make an informed decision on the lens that best suits your lifestyle.
How does a hyperopic person see?
A person with hyperopia ranging from +1.00 to +2.00 can generally see well near and far thanks to the accommodation of their natural lens. However, after constant exertion, this person will likely experience eyestrain with headaches.
For hyperopia ranging from moderate to advanced (+3.00 and more), accommodation of the lens is usually not sufficient and glasses are necessary. Without glasses, vision is often blurred, near and far.
How is laser surgery used to treat farsightedness?
ULTRALASIK surgery corrects farsightedness by sculpting a kind of “gutter” all around the treatment area on the cornea. In this way, it is possible to give a rounder shape to the cornea, helping the light beams to converge better on the retina.
What is an overcorrection of hyperopia?
Uncorrected hyperopia requires constant effort from the lens. This is why, in some cases, the professionals at the IRIS Ophthalmology Clinic will explain to you that correcting all of the hyperopia could make you myopic.
The reason is simple: your lens has become accustomed to constantly straining to allow you to see well up close and has developed a residual accommodation. This means that your lens is no longer able to be fully at rest and remains in a slightly contracted shape. Fully correcting farsightedness without considering residual accommodation could make you slightly nearsighted.
Our team could then suggest that you keep a slight farsightedness at the corneal level, just enough to be compensated by the residual accommodation of your lens, which would give you a so-called “plano” vision.
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