HYPEROPIA
[hiper-, excessive+ opi, vision]
Hyperopia,
also known as farsightedness, is usually inherited. Approximately
25% of the general population is hyperopic (a person having hyperopia).
In hyperopia, light rays from a distant object converge and focus on
the retina. But diverging rays from a near object can't converge sufficiently
and therefore they focus beyond the retina. The hyperopic eye can see
distant objects well, but near objects blurry.
In theory, hyperopia is the inability to focus and see the close objects
clearly, but in practice many young hyperopics can compensate the
weakness of their focusing ability by excessive use of the accommodation
functions of their eyes. But older hyperopics are not as lucky as
them. By aging, accommodation range diminishes and for older hyperopics
seeing close objects becomes an impossible mission. Also for people
with advanced hyperopia, including young people, the accommodation
mechanism is not sufficient and they need spectacles, or a laser vision
correction procedure. Unfortunately, people with advanced hyperopia
may even suffer from both close and distant vision problems.
There
are 3 types of hyperopia.
1. Axial hyperopia
This is the most frequent type. Refractive power of the eye is normal,
but the length of the eye is shorter than normal. Because of that
light rays coming from close objects focus behind the retina. If you
compare this to a movie theater, the projection screen is too close
and the projected image is not in focus.
2. Curvature hyperopia
The length of the eye is normal, but the decrease in the curvature
of the cornea, or the lens, causes the light rays to be refracted
insufficiently and focused behind the retina.
3. Refractive
hyperopia
In refractive hyperopia the size of the eye is normal, but the refractive
power of the lens is less than normal. Generally this occurs with
aging. Normally babies and young children are naturally mild hyperopics
but with the unbelievable elasticity of their lenses, they can easily
compensate, in other words, accommodate their vision. Natural hyperopia
diminishes and disappears with age.
Hyperopics may frequently feel headaches, eye strain while using a
computer, reading or continuous TV watching. They may also complain
of sensitivity to bright lights, difficulty of reading small prints
and even blurry distant vision. The reason for headaches and eye strain
is continuous stretching and use of accommodation muscles (tiny muscles
inside the eye that thicken the lens).
Definitive treatment of hyperopia is laser vision correction (LASIK,
LASEK or PRK). To compensate hyperopia, thin edged convex lenses (looks
like a loop) are used. The dioptric power of these convex lenses are marked
as (+) plus. The severity of hyperopia is classified as follows:
Mild Hyperopia < +2.00 diopters
Moderate Hyperopia +2.00 to +4.00 diopters
Severe Hyperopia +4.00 to +6.00 diopters
Extreme Hyperopia > +6.00 diopters
At EyeSTAR LASIK Institute, Istanbul, we are even able to correct
extremely hyperopic eyes with our cutting-edge technology.
