Some people have great distance vision, but can’t see the words on a page right in front of them. This is called hyperopia, or farsightedness.
Images coming into a hyperopic eye tend are out of focus because the length of the eye is shorter than where light focuses clearly. When looking at something farther away, a mildly hyperopic eye can see the object clearly, but the closer they get to the object, the more blurry it becomes. If someone has a moderate to high amount of hyperopia, his/her distance vision will also be affected. This is corrected using plus-powered, convex lenses, that are thinnest at the edges and thickest in the middle, causing light to converge (or focus sooner). High plus powered lenses can be reminiscent of “coke-bottle” glasses, causing the wearer’s eyes to appear larger behind the glasses due to the magnification they cause.
Many hyperopes only require glasses (or contacts) for certain tasks, and some require their glasses most or all of the time; this depends on the strength of correction required, and one’s visual demands.
Do you get headaches, eyestrain, or eye pain when reading? You may have hyperopia. When was your last eye exam?
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