What you need to know about farsightedness

July 10, 2015

How does it happen?

Farsighted vision, the opposite of myopia, occurs because the eyeball is too short or the cornea is not sufficiently curved, so light rays from nearby objects are still too far apart by the time they reach the retina.
The focal point is effectively behind the retina, making nearby objects look blurred, while things in the distance are in sharp focus.
Like myopia, farsightedness also runs in families and seems to be mostly inherited.

What you need to know about farsightedness

Who gets it?

Most babies are born with a degree of farsightedness, but children's flexible lenses can compensate for this, so fewer than one in ten are still farsighted between the ages of five and twenty.
Whereas generally your risk of developing nearsightedness diminishes as you get older, the incidence of farsightedness increases with age.
Research shows that it affects one in six adults aged 40 to 45, half of those over 65, and as many as two-thirds of people over 80.
Aging doesn't actually cause farsightedness, but any inherent farsightedness becomes more apparent with age because your lens gets stiffer, so its ability to compensate — as it did when you were younger — is reduced. This makes it more difficult to focus on close-up objects.

Know your risks

As this process occurs gradually, you may not even realize that you have a problem with your vision. You might be aware instead that your eyes feel tired or sore and you might get headaches after prolonged close work.
Farsighted people are at greater risk of developing glaucoma. If you're farsighted, you should be especially careful and schedule regular eye exams.
There are few other complications for adults with farsightedness, but most farsighted people do need progressively stronger glasses or lenses.

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