Hyperopia is a visual defect frequent which blurs near vision. It is not an illness. This defect is part of refraction disorders, such as astigmatism or myopia.

The eye of a hyperopic person is sometimes referred to as “too small” or “too short”, although it is not always the size of the eye that is involved. This vision disorder may be due to the shape of the cornea, which may be too little curved and too flat.

Whatever the responsible factor, the image of an object in a hyperopic person is formed backward of the retina, when it should be on the fact the retina. The image forming in front of the retina in case of myopia, we can consider that hyperopia is the opposite of myopia.

To clearly distinguish this object, the hyperopic eye must accommodate or “focus” to bring the image back to the center of the retina. With this effort, the eye can get a sharp image. If hyperopia is severe or if the affected person suffers from accommodation concerns, particularly related to age, the object observed will remain blurry.

Note: a large majority of babies suffer from hyperopia at birth, but this defect quickly disappears with the growth of the eye and its lengthening. They generally do not have a vision problem since they compensate with a high-performance accommodation.

Prevalence

More than one in ten people suffer from hyperopia in France and Canada.

Diagnostic

Diagnosis is made by an ophthalmologist or optometrist through a simple eye exam and a series of vision tests. This could, for example, be an eye movement test, a refraction examination or a retinal examination.

Causes

Hyperopia may be due to cornea (= first transparent layer of the eyeball) too flat. The eye itself may also be too small.