Disorders and Diseases of the Eye: Farsightedness and Nearsightedness

Disorders of the Eye:

• Astigmatism
• Farsightedness
• Nearsightednes

Diseases of the Eye:

• Cataract
• Diabetes
• Dry-Eye
• Glaucoma
• Keratoconus
• Macular Degeneration
• Ocular Hypertension

Farsightedness, or hyperopia, as it is medically termed, is a vision condition in which distant objects are more properly focused than near objects. Farsightedness occurs if your eyeball is too short or the cornea has too little curvature, so light entering your eye is not focused correctly. Farsightedness requires your focusing muscles to work much harder than they should have to in order to maintain a clear focus.

Common signs of farsightedness include difficulty in concentrating and maintaining a clear focus on near objects, eye strain, fatigue and/or headaches after close work, aching or burning eyes, irritability or nervousness after sustained concentration.

Common vision screenings, often done in schools, are generally ineffective in detecting farsightedness. A comprehensive optometric examination will include testing for farsightedness.

In mild cases of farsightedness, your eyes may be able to compensate without corrective lenses. In other cases, your optometrist can prescribe eyeglasses or contact lenses to optically correct farsightedness - relaxing your focusing muscles and clearing your vision at the same time.

Nearsightedness, or myopia, as it is medically termed, is a vision condition in which near objects are seen clearly, but distant objects do not come into proper focus. Nearsightedness occurs if your eyeball is too long or the cornea has too much curvature, so the light entering your eye is not focused correctly.

Nearsightedness is a very common vision condition that affects nearly 30 percent of the U.S. population. Some evidence supports the theory that nearsightedness is hereditary. There is also growing evidence that nearsightedness may be caused by the stress of too much close vision work. It normally first occurs in school age children. Since the eye continues to grow during childhood, nearsightedness generally develops before age 20.

A sign of nearsightedness is difficulty seeing distant objects like a movie or TV screen or chalkboard. A comprehensive optometric examination will include testing for nearsightedness. Dr. Wallace or Dr. Hamilton can prescribe eyeglasses or contact lenses to optically correct nearsightedness by altering the way the light images enter your eyes. You may only need to wear them for certain activities, like watching TV or a movie or driving a car, or they may need to be worn for all activities.

Refractive surgery or laser procedures are also possible treatments for nearsightedness as is orthokeratology. Orthokeratology is a non-invasive procedure that involves the wearing of a series of specially-designed rigid contact lenses to progressively reshape the curvature of the cornea over time.