Long-Sightedness - Symptoms and Causes

Article by Lindsay Pollard

Long-sightedness and far-sightedness are widely applied terms for hyperopia. It is caused by a defect in the ability of the eyes to focus. When somebody is suffering with hyperopia, it means that they are incapable of focusing on things that are near, causing their vision to appear blurry. This will not impact on their ability to see far away things.

How Eyesight Normally Works

Our sight is created through a process of light rays coming from an object and passing through the cornea and lens, which are at the front of our eyes, which bend the light in order to focus it on the retina, at the back of the eye. From here the light rays are transformed into electrical signals. These signals are then transported to the brain, which decodes the signal and gives us vision.

What Happens When Someone Has Long-sightedness

As with normal sight, the images an individual with long-sightedness sees begin as light rays going though the cornea and lens of the eye. The trouble happens when the light rays do not focus on the retina, instead they are focused outside of the eyeball, keeping the retina from receiving a complete picture.

This may be caused if the eye itself is too short, from front to back, keeping the light rays from being projected onto the retina. Instead the problem might be at the front of the eyeball with the cornea or lens. As the cornea and lens bend the light rays which enter our eyes, if they are unable to direct the light at the required angle to focus onto the retina then the vision will be impaired.

What Are The Symptoms of Long-sightedness?

Long-sightedness can affect people in different ways, based on the lifestyle lead and occupation they do. Individuals with long-sightedness might find themselves suffering from these everyday symptoms:

• Sore and sensitive eyes can be a result of the continual effort to view close things and to read and write. Your blink rate may be impacted if you are always staring at things trying to bring them into focus, giving your eyes a dry, scratchy feel.

• Difficulty with focusing when reading books or newspapers is one of the most often recognized long-sightedness symptoms. Many people find themselves trying to hold reading materials at arms length in an attempt to get the contents into focus.

• Headaches and eye strain are frequent amongst someone with long-sightedness and usually result from the eyes being unable to focus on items nearby. Regular squinting may also occur, resulting in headaches and tiring of the eyes.

Who Is Affected By Long-sightedness?

When thinking of farsightedness many people often assume it is a condition associated to the elderly. While this is true, the long-sightedness that takes place in middle age is called presbyopia and is a result of reduced flexibility of the lens of the eye. This is a natural part of the ageing process, and is easy to correct.

Hyperopia may also affect children, and some infants are even born with the condition. Usually the condition will get better by itself as the child's eyes develop. Though if not treated, farsightedness can result in other problems, lazy eyes for example.

Published 7th Apr 2009

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