Hyperopia and Your Child

Does it seem that, no matter how hard they try, your child is constantly below grade level in reading? Do they constantly complain about headaches and tired or sore eyes after spending time doing close-up activities? They may have hyperopia, also known as farsightedness.

If it goes undiagnosed, hyperopia can significantly harm a child's school performance, make extra-curricular activities more difficult, and generally reduce their quality of life.

What Is Hyperopia and What Causes It?

Hyperopia (farsightedness) is a common condition that affects people of all ages. With hyperopia, the eye is shaped differently, causing the light that enters the eye to focus too far back, beyond the retina. This results in near objects appearing blurry, while further-away objects appear clearer.

Hyperopia occurs when: the cornea is less curved than normal, the eyeball is shorter than normal, or the lens is thinner than normal. It is largely a condition inherited from one's parents, but can also be caused by issues with development before birth and in early childhood.

Symptoms of Hyperopia in Children

Often, hyperopia goes undetected in children, because children are really good at focusing their eyes to compensate for their farsightedness. Nonetheless, hyperopia can still cause eye strain, fatigue, and headaches after activities like reading, writing or using a computer.

Signs and symptoms that may signal your child is farsighted include:

• Viewing books, mobile phones, computer screens or tablets by holding them at arm's length
• Difficulties with reading, learning, or paying attention at school
• The constant need to squint to keep images and objects in focus, especially close up
• Regular complaints that images or objects appear blurry at close distance
• Headaches or fatigue after near vision activities, such as reading, writing, or computer use

Diagnosis and Treatment of Hyperopia

Regular eye exams can help diagnose hyperopia early, preventing issues with learning and other problems that can severely harm your child's quality of life. Options for treating hyperopia include:

1. Eyeglasses: Glasses are by far the most common treatment for hyperopia in children. Your child's level of hyperopia will determine how often and for how long they need to wear their glasses.
2. Bifocal/Multifocal Glasses: These glasses contain two or more lenses of different strengths, for both near and far vision. They are helpful for children who have difficulties with visual focusing due to severe hyperopia.
3. Contact Lenses: Contact lenses are usually reserved for older children who can take responsibility for the proper storage and cleaning of their lenses. Multifocal contact lenses offer clear vision at all distances and a wider field of view than glasses.

Want to learn more about hyperopia and how we can help treat it? Contact our Gahanna eye doctors at Eyecare Professionals of Gahanna today.

Q&A

Are hyperopia and presbyopia the same? No. Though they both make it difficult to see objects close-up, they are two completely different types of refractive error. Hyperopia occurs as a result of the eye being too short, or issues with the lens or cornea of the eye. Presbyopia occurs when the lens of the eye begins to calcify, making it harder and less flexible.

What kinds of lenses help treat hyperopia? Lenses for farsightedness are convex, meaning the lens curves outward, and the prescription is expressed in positive numbers. For example, a lens for minor hyperopia might be written as +0.50, whereas more extreme hyperopia might be +6.00.