Hyperopia in Seattle, WA

If you have poor vision, it can affect many areas of your life, including your job performance, the ability to safely drive, or participate in your favorite pastimes. Hyperopia, also often called farsightedness, is one of the most common types of vision issues. Approximately a fourth of the people in our country live with hyperopia. Hyperopia is the decreased ability to focus on items that are at less than arm's distance, for example, books or photographs. Activities, like reading, texting, and even things like shaving, can be quite challenging. Similar to nearsightedness, the degree of farsightedness can range from mild to severe and might cause other frustrating discomforts that can impact you frequently. Luckily, there are several helpful treatment options for hyperopia.

At SPEX, our professional eye care team can examine you for farsightedness and help you decide on a viable treatment option. Contact us for your appointment at our Seattle, WA facility for a thorough eye exam with optometrist Dr. Scott Campbell, and be one step closer to having better vision.

Those who are farsighted might not recognize hyperopia symptoms until their close-up vision starts to be hazy. The inability to focus on objects near the eyes is usually the most dominant evidence of being farsighted. However, farsightedness that isn’t noticeable yet or has been left untreated can usually result in eye strain, also referred to as asthenopia. The consistent strain on the eyes that comes from spending time on certain tasks, for example, reading, playing video games, or using the computer, can cause headaches, burning and aching eyes, and discomfort in the shoulders and neck. People who have already been diagnosed with hyperopia but are still having these symptoms should set up an eye exam to determine whether their prescription should be revised.

Usually, hyperopia is genetic. The blurred close-up vision of hyperopia is the result of the curve of either the eyeball itself or of the cornea. When the eyeball is too short from front to back, it decreases the curvature of the eye, causing issues with how light is focused by the retina. Similarly, when the cornea is too flat, light entering the eye will not be focused by the retina properly. In the majority of patients, hyperopia already exists from day one, but children may, every now and then, overcome their hyperopia as their eyes keep maturing. This condition is often mistaken for presbyopia. Both impairments affect close-up vision, but they are two specific issues. Presbyopia refers to reduced close-up vision that stems from a decreasing flexibility of the eye’s lens. Presbyopia is part of normal aging and is most common in those aged 40 years or more.

During your visit to SPEX, Dr. Campbell will do a full eye assessment to check your overall eye health. Every comprehensive assessment will include routine vision acuity tests to look for any refractive vision abnormalities, such as hyperopia. The tests we perform to find out whether you have hyperopia are the same tests used to diagnose myopia, or nearsightedness. These basic tests typically involve demonstrating how you can see the lines on an eye chart and one or two tests to establish if light is arriving at the retinas the right way. They are all finished quickly and are absolutely painless. In the event that we detect hyperopia, our optometrist will then run a few tests to determine the best prescription for your glasses or contacts.