Did you know refractive errors are among the most popular vision problems affecting Americans’ eyesight? In fact, around 150 million Americans experience poor vision due to a refractive error. In order to see, our corneas bend light into our retinas in order to process images. In the case of refractive errors, there’s typically something amiss with the structure of your eye that’s causing you to be unable to perceive things correctly, resulting in blurry vision. There are several different types of refractive errors, with one of them being hyperopia. Here, we’ll be going over everything you need to know about this condition, including what it is and how a Los Angeles LASIK eye surgery can fix it.
What is hyperopia?
Hyperopia is also commonly referred to as farsightedness. This specific type of refractive error is characterized by one’s ability to see far away objects with more clarity than objects that are up close. That is, things that are closer to people with hyperopia appear blurrier than things that are further away.
As previously stated, refractive errors occur when the structure of your eyes doesn’t allow for light to be properly bent. With hyperopia, there are two types of structural irregularities within your eyes that may be causing your blurry vision- eyeballs that are too short and corneas that aren’t curved enough. Unfortunately, short eyes and flat corneas are unable to send light rays to the correct part of your retinas; instead of hitting the direct surface of the retina, the rays are hitting a spot just behind it. The result is an inability to focus on up close objects.
Diagnosing and treating hyperopia
Symptoms of hyperopia include blurred vision, trouble focusing on close by objects, eye strain, and headaches. If you experience any of these issues, schedule an appointment with your local optometrist. A simple eye exam will be able to reveal if you have hyperopia or any other type of vision problem.
If it turns out that you do have hyperopia, you’ll have several treatment options to pick from to regain clear vision. Of course, glasses and contacts are trusted solutions that many people opt to go for. However, if you’d like a more permanent option, then a laser eye surgery procedure might be a better fit. If you have any questions or concerns about your options, talk to your eye doctor to discuss what treatment would work best for your prescription and lifestyle.
Laser eye surgery for hyperopia
In case you’re already interested in undergoing eye surgery to fix your hyperopia, here’s a quick summary of everything you need to know. Procedures like LASIK and PRK eye surgery use lasers to reshape the cornea so it may be able to bend light properly, thus restoring your vision so you can see clearly. Overall, the surgeries and recovery time are fairly quick and complication-free- it takes around 30 minutes to complete the surgery itself and you’ll only need a full day’s rest to fully heal your eyes. After surgery, you can notice an instant improvement in your sight, however, it may continue to stabilize and improve for up to several months.
These surgeries are incredibly popular for people with hyperopia because they offer benefits that glasses or contacts simply don’t have. With as little as one surgery, you can go back to living life without having to deal with the hassle of putting on and taking off your contacts every day or misplacing your glasses, all while maintaining perfectly clear vision! If you have hyperopia and are interested in getting corrective surgery, make an appointment at your local Los Angeles LASIK eye center such as Excel Laser Vision Institute today to discuss which surgery option would be best for you.