HYPEROPIA is the medical term for farsightedness. In this condition, the focusing
power of the eye is too weak for the length of the eye.
Ideally, the cornea and lens, the two
focusing structures in the eye, focus images directly on the surface of the retina. If the eye were too short, or the focusing power too weak,
the image would be focused behind the retina. At the retinal surface, the image would be
blurred. Thus, the vision, too, would be blurred.
Corrective lenses in the form of glasses or contact lenses are used to refocus the
image so that it falls directly on the retina, clearing the vision.
Until age 40 or so, the eye has the ability to accommodate, or
focus over varying distances. Often, this ability allows people who are farsighted to see
clearly at all distances without glasses.
At present, there is no approved surgery to correct farsightedness, alone. In the
future, surgical correction of this condition may be possible.