Do you have trouble seeing objects up close? 

If this just started happening and you’re somewhere in your early 40s to 60s, you might have presbyopia (age-related vision problems). Otherwise, you may have hyperopia (hi-per-OH-pee-uh).

More commonly called farsightedness, this is a refractive error in which near-distance vision is blurry.

As its name suggests, nearsightedness is the opposite condition where objects up close are clear while objects in the distance are blurry.

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What Causes Farsightedness?

Farsightedness occurs when the eye is shaped so that light bends to focus it behind the retina rather than directly on it. This can happen when the eye is shorter from front to back than normal. Or when the cornea at the front of the eye is more flat than curved.

Many children are born farsighted, but it doesn’t affect their vision because their lens can focus the light onto the retina while they are kids. Kids’ eyes are usually shorter than round. As they grow, so do their eyes, becoming longer. Farsightedness will then reduce or disappear.

Farsightedness tends to run in families. If one of your parents is farsighted, you are more likely to be farsighted as well.

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What Are the Symptoms of Farsightedness?

Common symptoms include: 

• Blurry vision and trouble seeing things up close
• Squinting
• Eye strain
• Headaches

If you have mild farsightedness, you may not notice any symptoms. 

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How Is Farsightedness Diagnosed? 

Farsightedness is diagnosed through a comprehensive eye exam. Your doctor will perform various tests that measure your eyes and vision. They’ll also check for other refractive errors like nearsightedness, astigmatism, and presbyopia.

If you have farsightedness, it is noted on your eyewear prescription in the SPH or SPHERE column as a positive number (with a plus sign, “+”). The higher the number, the more powerful the correction you’ll need.

(Learn how to read your eyewear prescription.)

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How Is Farsightedness Treated?

The most common treatments for farsightedness are glasses and contact lenses. 

Eye surgery is another option for treating farsightedness. Your eye doctor may recommend different types of surgery depending on your degree of farsightedness. 

Kids with farsightedness need to be evaluated by an eye doctor. If farsightedness affects their vision, they will need corrective lenses, like glasses or contacts. Untreated farsightedness can lead to complications like amblyopia (lazy eye) or strabismus (crossed eye).

Note that eye exercises, vitamins, or other pills cannot prevent or treat farsightedness.