HYPEROPIA
Hyperopia is a common defect in childhood ,which has a tendency to decrease or even disappear as the child grows.
20% of the population reach adulthood with hyperopia, suffering from headaches and eye strain after reading or working closely on something. Nowadays we can correct hyperopia with the LASIK surgical technique, based on the application of lasers.
What is hyperopia ?
It is a refractive defect of the eye which causes blurred near vision (for reading, writing) and over time also affects far vision. As hyperopic patients maintain their far vision for some years, they are called ‘long-sighted’, as opposed to myopes who are called ‘short-sighted’.
When does this occur ?
In a normal eye, the images which enter are focused by the cornea and the crystalline lens on the retina, which then transmits the images to the brain. In a hyperopic eye, the images are formed behind the retina, causing blurred near vision, due to the fact that the patient cannot focus and this is corrected by glasses, contact lenses or refractive surgery.
What does refractive surgery consist in ?
The intervention which is the quickest, most effective and which achieves the best results is the LASIK technique, in which the Excimer laser is applied. This is done with anesthetic eye drops, takes 10 minutes and within an hour the patient is back home. If there is an elevated level of hyperopia, the technique which is recommended is the implantation of an intraocular lens, which is inserted into the eye between the iris and the crystalline lens.
Why do some hyperopes have a squint ?
Some hyperopic patients squint when they remove their glasses (meaning that they have accommodative strabismus) and the correction of their hyperopia using LASIK simultaneously corrects their squint.
Who should perform these interventions ?
How successful these interventions are depends equally on the technology used and the experience and skill of the ophthalmological surgeon. To avoid running unnecessary risks, choose a center which has at its disposal a medical team with wide experience in applying laser during refractive surgery and which boasts the most innovative technology.
