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Condition

Farsightedness (hyperopia)

Farsightedness, or hyperopia, makes it harder to focus on things up close, and sometimes far away too. It is common, often runs in families, and is easy to correct with glasses or contact lenses.

Key points

Common signs
Blurry close-up vision, tired or strained eyes, and headaches after reading. Children may have no signs.
Who’s at risk
People with a farsighted parent, adults over 40, and children with an eye that turns in.
How it’s found
A comprehensive eye exam. Children often need drops that relax focusing to show their true prescription.
Treatment
Glasses or contact lenses. Some adults may choose laser vision correction or lens surgery.
A woman looking through a trial frame while her prescription is measured

Farsightedness, also called hyperopia, is a common focusing problem. Many people with it see things far away more clearly than things up close. But when it is stronger, both near and far can look blurry.

It happens when the eye is a little shorter than usual from front to back, or when the clear front of the eye (the cornea) is flatter than usual. Light then focuses behind the retina, the layer at the back of the eye that senses light, instead of right on it.

The eye has a built-in way to fix some of this. A muscle inside the eye changes the shape of the lens to bring things into focus. This is how many farsighted people, especially children and young adults, can still see clearly. But the extra effort can tire the eyes and cause headaches. As people get older, the lens gets stiffer, so it can’t make up the difference as well. That is why farsightedness often seems to “appear” in adulthood.

Farsightedness is not the same as presbyopia. Presbyopia is the normal loss of close-up focus that happens to everyone around their 40s. The two can add together, which is why some farsighted people need reading glasses earlier.

In children

Most babies are born a bit farsighted, and many grow out of it as their eyes grow. Mild farsightedness in children often needs no treatment. But stronger farsightedness can make a child work very hard to see up close. This can lead to:

  • An eye that turns in, especially when looking at things up close
  • Weaker vision in one or both eyes (amblyopia, or lazy eye)
  • Tired eyes, headaches or avoiding reading

Children often pass a distance vision screening even when they are quite farsighted, because the eye chart is far away. A comprehensive eye exam is the best way to find it.

  • Blurry vision up close, and sometimes far away too
  • Eyes that feel tired, strained or achy after reading or computer work
  • Headaches, often after close work
  • Squinting to see clearly
  • Needing more light to read, or holding things farther away
  • In children: rubbing the eyes, losing their place while reading, avoiding close work, or an eye that turns in

Some people, especially children, have no symptoms at all.

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Related care topics

Farsightedness (hyperopia) · Invision Care Optometry