Hyperopia, or hypermetropia, and most commonly called farsighted and longsighted, is another refractive imperfection (like astigmatism and nearsightedness) wherein the light entering the eye is focused slightly behind the retina, resulting in the patient having slightly blurred vision.

The imperfection is caused by the eyeball being short or where the lens’ focusing power cannot make itself round enough. Usually the effect of this condition is that a hyperopic eye does not focus well on objects that are nearby whereas the patient may see well at a distance.

Hyperopia is often inherited. It is sometimes present at birth, although many kids outgrow it. The condition can cause eye strain, and headaches when reading or concentrating on close up objects, and may indicate a need for a new prescription if you already are wearing contact lenses or prescription glasses.

Hyperopic vision can be corrected with contact lenses or prescription glasses, which may need to be worn full time depending upon the level of vision correction. It can also be corrected with refractive surgery using either PRK (photorefractive keratectomy), where a laser is used to re-shape the cornea or more commonly with Lasik Eye Surgery (laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis) where a  laser removes some corneal tissue to reshape the lens of the cornea.