Treatment for Farsightedness
Farsightedness, commonly called hyperopia, is one of the most common vision defects. A cause for its occurrence is too short of an eyeball or too small of an eye covering. The focus occurs beyond the retina and not where it should, namely on the retina. Farsightedness is characterized by weakly seeing objects, which are up close.
The closer they are to the eye, the blurrier they become. The person with a strong and lasting farsightedness may have a problem with vision sharpness both near and far. It can happen that lessening vision can also be accompanied by headaches or eyeball pain, or double vision.
This defect leads to insufficient vision, which can complicate the everyday functioning of the patient. Laser treatment allows for the increase of the curvature and widening and refraction of the light.
Depending upon the severity of the defect determines the degree of farsightedness:
- lesser or minor (to +2.5D),
- medium (+2.5 to +6 D),
- and major (above +6D).
Farsightedness in children and in adults
In children younger than 3 may appear physiological farsightedness but with growth of the eyeball it should fade (eyes should undergo an emmetropization process, meaning the improvement of the farsightedness and return to a state without the defect). If this does not happen and the defect does not disappear, it will be necessary to provide correction. Estimates state that about 90% of the youngest children are farsighted and this percentage decreases to about 40-50% of children between the ages of 8-10.
With attention on the possible accommodations this condition can easily not be diagnosed for some time. Parents should give their attention to symptoms like lack of desire to read and peruse a book, quick tiring of the eye or squinting. This last symptom appears when, i.e. the defect in both eyes differ or when one eyeball is characterized by the underdevelopment of the optic nerve. The weaker eye stops working and disconnects in the vision process, because the brain “chooses for itself” monovision, the more efficient, better seeing eye. We can then observe the wavering of one eye. A quick visit to the ophthalmologist is necessary, because the situation can lead to disturbances of binocular and/or spatial vision (stereopsis). In the event of strabismus, the faster the ophthalmologist’s intervention, the greater the chance of avoiding monocular vision (seeing with only one eye), which in the future may result in the inability to work in several professions (i.e. driving).
Between the ages of 25 and 40, a typical symptom of farsightedness is worse vision up close. After 40 years of age, farsightedness manifests itself by poor vision both at a distance and up close (due to poor accommodation). A separate eye problem is the so-called farsighted presbyopia (or simply presbyopia), which is not technically a vision defect, but a set of changes that occur with age in the human eye. It can also appear in people who have been diagnosed with any vision defects.
How do you diagnose farsightedness?
In the case of children, diagnosing farsightedness requires a temporary immobilizing of the ciliary muscle, namely the immobilizing of possible accommodation (i.e. cycloplegia state). The optometrist or ophthalmologist will give appropriate eye drops (i.e. tropicamide or atropine) and conducts a sciascopy (which consists of manually focusing a narrow beam of light on the lower eye and observing the direction of the motion of the red reflection from the lower eye in the area of the pupil. Special bars/lines or the Hess circle with embedded contacts of varied power or refractometer are used (the principle of the exam is the same but completed by a computer). For adults, immobilizing the possible accommodation is not essential.
Method for correcting farsightedness
People with farsightedness make use of corrective glasses with convex lenses, or plus prescriptions, which are wider in the middle than around the edges. This type of lens focuses the moving light point upon the retina. Contact lenses give an increased effect, which in the case of farsightedness don’t cause a narrowing of the field of vision, like with glasses. A similar phenomenon occurs with nearsighted people. In both cases, the greater the defect, the better the patient responds to contact lenses.
Farsightedness can also be corrected by laser treatments. Taking into account the advanced degree of the eye defect, the degree of farsightedness can be too low, when the value of the diopters is not above +2 and too high when the value passes +5.
The treatment method is dependent upon the number of diopters and is determined individually during the initial exam and consultation with the doctor. Application of LASIK and Femto-LASIK methods.LASIK methodTwo-phase technique: the cornea is incised by a scalpel (microkeratome), and then the surface of the cornea is fashioned so that the focused image will fall correctly upon the retina.Femto-LASIK methodThanks to the precise femtosecond laser, the surgeon can make the incision on the cornea, make the thin flap of a width of .1 mm. Using the excimer laser, the doctor can fashion the previously uncovered surface of the cornea, and then close the flap back in its place; this will harden and create a protective barrier for the cornea.
People who do not qualify for the vision laser corrective procedure, may decide for Phakic lenses (special lenses made from Collamer material (Visian ICL), which helps correct astigmatism and serious vision disorders with a number of diopters greater than -8 and +3. In the case of pronounced farsightedness interocular implants may also be used. Refraction lens replacement RLA depends upon this, that the natural lens is drawn out through a small incision in the cornea, and in its place is put a lens made from compatible artificial acrylic.
Lens surgery methods:
In the case of a pronounced farsightedness or other vision defect, we also recommend an intraocular transplant. People, who do not qualify for the vision correction procedure by laser, may decide for Phakic lenses.RLA methodReplacing natural lenses with intraocular implants using the Clear Lens Extraction method.Phakic lensLenses made from Collamer (ILC), which improve the quality of vision are greatly tolerated by the eye.
