What Does It Mean to be Farsighted?
Farsighted is another term for hyperopia. This means that the uncorrected eye is focused at a distance beyond 20 feet. For small amounts of hyperopia this results in great distance vision. As the amount of hyperopia increases, near work (computer and reading) becomes more difficult. For larger amounts of hyperopia, images have to be too far away to focus. For larger amounts of hyperopia there is no useful distance images focus at. Younger patients are able to use the ciliary muscle to focus through hyperopia to see. As the ciliary muscle flexes, it changes the shape of the lens. The change in shape allows images to be focused at closer distances. If an eye is naturally focused at 30 feet, flexing of the ciliary muscle can change the focused distance to 20 feet. If the muscle flexes harder, it can focus images at 16 inches or closer depending on the patients' age and focusing ability. For every year of life, the lens in our eye becomes larger. When the lens is larger, the cilia...