Hypermetropia

Hypermetropia is also known as hyperopia or being long sighted. If you are long sighted you may have difficulty in focusing your eyes but more so when looking at objects or text close up. When light enters your eyes, it should focus on the retina (light sensitive layer at the back of your eyes). In hypermetropia, the light focuses behind the retina. This causes your close up vision to be blurry. Children that have severe uncorrected hypermetropia will not develop good vision if their eyesight is not corrected with glasses or contact lenses. Hypermetropia in children can also cause a child to ‘over focus’; this leads to one eye turning, strabismus. The turned eye may not develop properly and cause a weakness in that eyes’ vision, this is called amblyopia or lazy eye.

• Blurry vision especially at near or close up

• Tired or aching eyes

• Headaches after reading or completing a close up activity

• A smaller eye, hence light focuses behind the retina instead of on the retina

• Irregular shaped cornea

• Low converging ability of the lens in your eyes, causing light to focus behind the retina

• Genetic or familial link

• Glasses using convex (outward facing) lenses. Your lenses can be treated with special coatings. Anti glare lenses can help reduce glare, transition lenses that act like sunglasses in bright conditions, high index lenses to make your lenses thinner if you have high hypermetropia.

• Contact lenses, soft or hard. The most hygienic and convenient contact lenses are soft daily disposables.

• Strabismus or squints would need to be monitored and may require surgical treatment. An Orthoptist and Ophthalmologist usually monitor patients with strabismus or squints; the Optician would help take care of the prescription required to treat the hypermetropia.

• Laser eye surgery: to correct your hypermetropia prescription

1. LASIK - the eye surgeon makes a thin, hinged flap into your cornea. They then use a laser to remove the inner layers of the cornea; this changes the shape of the cornea, correcting your hypermetropia. Lasik recovery is usually quick.

2. LASEK - an ultra-thin flap of the epithelium (outermost layer of the cornea) is removed, a laser is then used to change the shape of the cornea. The removed epithelium is then placed back on to the laser treated cornea.

3. Photorefractive keratectomy (PRK) - has a similar procedure to LASEK, however the epithelium is discarded, and the cornea regrows the epithelium.