Eye condition · Focusing problems
Hyperopia (farsightedness)
Hyperopia makes the eye work harder to focus, especially up close. Learn the symptoms in adults and children, and how it is corrected.
What it is
Hyperopia, or farsightedness, happens when the eyeball is a little too short from front to back or the cornea is too flat. Light focuses behind the retina. Young eyes can often compensate by focusing harder, so people with mild hyperopia may see well but tire quickly.
Symptoms
- Blurry vision up close, and sometimes far away too if hyperopia is strong
- Eye strain, aching or burning eyes after reading or screen work
- Headaches
- Squinting to see clearly
In children, hyperopia often causes no complaints. Signs can include avoiding reading, losing attention, rubbing eyes, or one eye turning inward.
Who is at risk
Hyperopia often runs in families and is usually present from birth. Many people only notice it in their late 30s and 40s, when the eye’s ability to compensate weakens with age.
How it is diagnosed
A comprehensive eye exam with a refraction measures it. In children, eye doctors use dilating drops that relax focusing (cycloplegic refraction), because children can hide hyperopia by over-focusing.
Treatment
- Glasses with plus (convex) lenses, full-time or for close work
- Contact lenses
- Refractive surgery for some adults: LASIK and PRK can treat low to moderate hyperopia, and lens replacement is an option for higher amounts or for people over about 50
Why it matters in children
Uncorrected hyperopia makes children work hard to focus. That can cause one eye to turn in (accommodative esotropia) and lead to amblyopia, where vision in one eye fails to develop fully. Early eye exams catch both. See our guide to children’s vision.
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Questions people ask
Is farsightedness the same as presbyopia?
No. Hyperopia comes from the shape of the eye and can affect any age. Presbyopia is the age-related stiffening of the lens that affects everyone from their 40s.
Can children grow out of farsightedness?
Most babies are slightly farsighted and grow out of it as the eye grows. Moderate or high hyperopia often persists and can need glasses to prevent eye strain, crossed eyes or lazy eye.