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Farsightedness Causes and Risks:
Farsightedness is the result of the visual image being focused behind the retina rather than directly on it. It may be caused from the eyeball being too short from front to back or the lens being too weak. Farsightedness is often present from birth, and children can often overcome a mild condition through adjustment of the eye (accommodation). As aging occurs, glasses or contact lenses are required to correct vision. A family history of farsightedness is a risk factor.
Prevention:
There is no known prevention for farsightedness. Awareness of risks (such as family history) allows early diagnosis and intervention.
Symptoms:
Signs and Tests:
A general eye examination may include:
Treatment:
Farsightedness is easily corrected with glasses or contact lenses. Surgical techniques are available for correcting farsightedness but are not often used.
Prognosis:
The outcome is expected to be good.
Complications:
Farsightedness is a risk factor for chronic glaucoma .
Call Your Healthcare Provider:
Call for an appointment with your health care provider or ophthalmologist if symptoms of farsightedness develop and you have not had an eye examination recently.
Also call if vision begins to get worse after you have been diagnosed with farsightedness.
People are very sensitive to other individuals' eye positions. By looking at another person's eye position, one can very effectively gauge where they are looking. People are also sensitive to eyes that are not looking in the same direction, which is referred to as crossed eyes (strabismus). Other more specific medical terms refer to eyes turned either outward or inward, or that are abnormally rotated. Any appearance of crossed eyes in young children should be immediately evaluated, as should recent onset of crossed eyes in an adult.
Visual acuity tests may be performed in many different ways. This is a quick way to detect vision problems and is frequently used in schools or for mass screening. Driver license bureaus often use a small device that can test the eyes both together and individually.
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