HYPERMETROPIA

Hypermetropia or hyperopia is a refractive defect that causes blurred vision of nearby objects. It can be considered as the opposite of myopia and is the most common defect in children that is usually present at birth. One may be unaware of the defect because, at a young age, the lens has great flexibility in focusing and self-corrects through its accommodation capacity. Over the years, however, the accommodative process causes excessive eye fatigue with redness, lacrimation, headache, difficulty concentrating and a constant feeling of heaviness. Usually, after 40 years of age, the ability to autofocus decreases and hyperopia becomes more and more apparent.
If the cornea is not sufficiently curved for the length of the eye, the light concentrates beyond the retina. Traditionally, hypermetropia is corrected with glasses or contact lenses. It is possible that the patient undergoes a safe and effective refractive surgery that can correct this visual defect, thus eliminating or reducing the need for glasses or contact lenses.

What Causes Hyperopia
Hyperopia is caused by an anatomical defect of a section of the eyeball. In this case, the cornea does not have a sufficient curvature for the length of the eye and rays of light coming from distant objects rather focus behind the retina, thus creating a blurred vision. In most cases, hyperopia is a congenital defect.

How Is Hyperopia Treated

Glasses Or Contact Lenses

Traditionally the hyperopia is corrected with the prescription of special corrective lenses, eyeglasses or contact lenses, biconvex (converging), spherical in shape and thicker in the center.

Laser Surgery

One may undergo a safe and effective refractive surgery such as LASIK or PRK, which is a very valuable option that can correct this visual defect by eliminating or reducing the need for glasses and contact lenses. The Excimer Laser emits an ultraviolet beam with high energy but at a very low penetrating power onto the biological cells, which allows a cold vaporization of the eye tissue in a targeted manner. The action of the laser is completely driven by a computer running the data programmed by the surgeon with nanometer precision.

Intraocular Lenses

The insertion of a phakic intraocular lens, without the extraction of the crystalline, is a further solution. The implant procedure is done under topical anesthesia through a small incision that requires no sutures. Normally, the operation is with an eye at a time and the second operation is scheduled the next day or a few days apart. Typically, this type of intervention is characterized by high-quality optical results, even in the event of high defect correction.
Obviously, it requires a careful visit to the eye doctor to identify the best correction procedure that is according to the degree of hyperopia, the patient’s age, and health status. On this occasion, a series of instrumental diagnostic tests are performed in order to verify the eligibility of patients who wish to undergo surgery.