Skip to main content
Optilase Logo

Hyperopia(Farsightedness)

Struggling to focus up close? Long-sightedness can be corrected

If reading small print, looking at your phone or working at a screen leaves your vision blurred or your eyes feeling tired, hyperopia could be the reason.

Also known as farsightedness or long-sightedness, hyperopia is a common focusing problem that can affect near vision and, with stronger prescriptions, distance vision too.

Glasses and contact lenses can correct it, while suitable adults may also have options including laser eye surgery or lens-based vision correction.

Two people reviewing eye exam results before laser eye surgery

SUCCESS RATE

97%+

Achieve 20/20 vision

4.84,001 Google reviews

World-Renowned Surgeons

Long-sightedness is common, and correctable

Mild hyperopia often causes few noticeable symptoms when you are younger, because the natural lens inside the eye can adjust to compensate. As that ability reduces with age, the effort involved becomes more obvious.

For suitable adults, laser eye surgery or a lens-based procedure can reduce the focusing effort your eyes make every day.

View Laser Eye Surgery
Man with a moustache during an eye consultation at Optilase

What is hyperopia?

Hyperopia is a refractive error, meaning the eye does not focus incoming light in exactly the right place.

In an eye without a refractive error, light is focused directly onto the retina at the back of the eye. With hyperopia, the eye's focusing power is not strong enough for its length, so the point of focus would fall behind the retina. This can make nearby objects appear blurred and require your eyes to work harder to bring them into focus.

Mild hyperopia can sometimes cause few noticeable symptoms, particularly in younger people, because the natural lens inside the eye can adjust its focus to compensate. With a stronger prescription, or as this ability reduces with age, symptoms can become more noticeable.

Farsightedness is another name for hyperopia. The name can be slightly misleading, because hyperopia does not always mean that distance vision is perfectly clear. People with mild hyperopia may see distant objects relatively well while struggling more with close-up tasks, and with moderate or higher hyperopia vision can be blurred at both near and far distances.

What causes hyperopia?

Hyperopia is usually related to the natural shape and focusing power of the eye.

In itself, hyperopia is not simply an age-related condition, although its symptoms can become more noticeable as you get older. When you are young, the natural lens inside your eye is flexible and can change shape to add extra focusing power. This process is called accommodation, and it can allow younger people with mild hyperopia to see clearly without realising how much focusing effort their eyes are making.

As the natural lens becomes less flexible with age, it becomes harder to compensate for an underlying hyperopic prescription. You may therefore start needing glasses for near tasks and, in some cases, later for distance vision too.

It commonly occurs when

  • The eyeball is shorter than needed for its focusing power
  • The cornea does not have enough curvature
  • The overall optical power of the eye is not sufficient to focus light directly on the retina

Hyperopia symptoms

The symptoms of hyperopia or farsightedness vary depending on your age and prescription. You may notice:

  • Blurred vision when reading or looking at nearby objects
  • Needing to move text further away to see it clearly
  • Tired or aching eyes after close-up tasks
  • Headaches after reading or screen use
  • Difficulty maintaining focus for long periods
  • Squinting to see more clearly
  • Blurred distance vision with stronger prescriptions

Some people with mild hyperopia have few symptoms because their eyes compensate naturally. If you regularly experience blurred vision, headaches or eye strain, an eye examination can determine whether hyperopia or another vision condition is responsible.

Hyperopia treatment options

The right hyperopia treatment depends on your prescription, age, eye health, lifestyle and what you would like to achieve from vision correction.

Glasses

Glasses are the simplest way to correct farsightedness. Convex prescription lenses add focusing power, helping light focus correctly on the retina rather than behind it. They can be worn all the time or for particular tasks.

Contact lenses

Contact lenses can also correct hyperopia and may offer an alternative to glasses for suitable patients. Different lens types are available depending on your prescription, eye health and lifestyle.

Laser eye surgery

For suitable adults with a stable prescription, laser eye surgery can reshape the cornea to correct hyperopia.

Depending on your eyes, this may involve LASIK or a surface laser treatment such as PRK.

View Laser Eye Surgery

Lens-based vision correction

Laser treatment is not the right option for every prescription or every patient. For prescriptions outside the appropriate laser range, an implantable or lens-based procedure may be considered instead.

Your age and the condition of your natural lens are also important when deciding which approach provides the most appropriate long-term solution.

View Lens Replacement

How LASIK and PRK correct hyperopia

LASIK and PRK both use an excimer laser to reshape the cornea and change how the eye focuses light. For hyperopia, treatment is planned to increase the focusing power of the cornea so that light which would otherwise focus behind the retina is brought into the correct position. The main difference between them is how the surgeon accesses the cornea.

  • 01

    Anaesthetic drops

    Anaesthetic eye drops are applied to numb the surface of the eye before treatment.

  • 02

    The cornea is prepared

    During LASIK, a thin corneal flap is created and gently lifted. During PRK, treatment is performed from the surface without creating a LASIK-style flap.

  • 03

    The laser corrects the prescription

    An excimer laser reshapes the cornea according to your individual hyperopic prescription and eye measurements, steepening its curvature so that light focuses more accurately on the retina.

  • 04

    Healing begins

    With LASIK the corneal flap is repositioned. With PRK a protective contact lens is placed over the treated surface while it heals. LASIK generally offers faster initial visual recovery than surface laser treatments.

Smiling man swimming in the sea after PRK eye surgery

Benefits of treating hyperopia

Correcting farsightedness can make everyday vision more comfortable and reduce the effort your eyes need to make to focus. Depending on your prescription and chosen treatment, potential benefits include:

Hyperopia treatment cost in Northern Ireland

The cost depends on which treatment is suitable for your eyes.

If laser correction is not appropriate for your prescription, your clinical team can discuss suitable lens-based alternatives and their associated costs.

Your consultation will confirm which options are available to you before you make any decision about treatment.

View all pricing
  • Standard Laser Eye Surgery

    From £795 per eye

    or from £27 per month

    Standard Laser Eye Surgery fixes short-sightedness, long-sightedness, and astigmatism with advanced laser tech for clearer vision.

    • Free Consultation with Senior Refractive Optometrist
    • Corneal Topography, Eye Design and AR Scans.
    • Pre-operative Consultation with Surgeon
    • Laser Eye Surgery
    • Post-operative Care

    Split your payments withhumm

  • LASIK

    From £1,847.50 per eye

    or from £77 per month

    A flap-based laser procedure with rapid visual recovery, usually within a day.

    • Free consultation
    • Advanced diagnostic scans
    • Pre-operative appointment with ophthalmic surgeon
    • Surgery
    • Post-operative follow up care with refractive optometrist
    • Eye care drops
    • Laser lifetime care guarantee

    Split your payments withhumm

  • PRK

    From £1,847.50 per eye

    or from £77 per month

    A surface laser treatment suited to thinner corneas, with a slightly longer recovery.

    • Free consultation
    • Advanced diagnostic scans
    • Pre-operative appointment with ophthalmic surgeon
    • PRK Surgery
    • Eye care drops
    • Post-operative follow up care with refractive optometrist
    • Laser lifetime care guarantee

    Split your payments withhumm

  • Phakic IOL

    From £3,247.50 per eye

    or from £136 per month

    An implantable lens placed alongside the natural lens, for higher prescriptions.

    • Pre-operative consultation with ophthalmic surgeon
    • Advanced diagnostic scans
    • Phakic IOL Surgery
    • Eye care drops
    • Post-operative appointment with refractive optometrist

    Split your payments withhumm

Meet our surgeons

  • Mr Thomas Materman

    Mr Tom Materman received his primary medical degree from the University of Auckland, New Zealand, in 1991. He worked as a locum GP before spending 12 months in Nepal with the Tilganga Eye Institute, part of the Fred Hollows Foundation, committed to providing first-world eye care in third-world countries. He then underwent postgraduate training in Ophthalmology in Wellington, New Zealand. After his training, he gained further Fellowship experience at the West of England Eye Hospital and the glaucoma service of Moorfields Eye Hospital, then completed a two-year refractive surgical fellowship in London with Professor Jan Venter.

    Since 2006 he has been a Fellow of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Ophthalmologists. Mr Materman has performed over 30,000 laser vision correction procedures (LASIK and PRK) and has significant experience in other areas of refractive practice such as lens replacement surgery, ICL implantation and cataract surgery. He keeps his knowledge up to date by attending numerous courses and conferences and is enrolled in an approved CPD programme by the Irish College of Ophthalmologists.

    Mr Materman is dedicated to using the most advanced techniques and safest technologies worldwide, and is a member of various professional organisations including the Irish Medical Council, the General Medical Council (UK) and the European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons.

    In his free time he enjoys photography, cooking, and outdoor activities such as mountain biking, road cycling and ocean sports.

  • Mr Mikhail Hernandez

    Mr Mikhail Hernandez is a fully qualified medical practitioner with vast experience in ophthalmology. After graduating Magna Cum Laude, with great distinction, and gaining his Spanish University Medical Degree in 2011, his passion for ophthalmology developed. Becoming a specialist in the field, Mr Hernandez continued his studies in ophthalmology, winning the scholarship of the Congress of the Valencian Society of Ophthalmology in 2016 and becoming a Specialist Doctor of Ophthalmology in 2017.

    Since then Mr Hernandez has completed a number of advanced qualifications in ophthalmology. He is a cornea specialist with experience in both normal and pathological corneal diagnosis and treatment, having performed multiple intricate surgeries such as corneal transplant, keratoconus and pterygium, using advanced technologies including the femtosecond and excimer lasers. He has practised as an ophthalmologist in southern Ireland and in Spain, has performed more than 4,000 cataract surgery procedures, and has gained a vast amount of experience in refractive intraocular lens treatments.

    With a keen interest in cataract and lens replacement care, Mr Hernandez regularly attends and speaks at industry conferences to stay on top of the latest developments in the field, and has shared his findings as a co-author and research participant in a substantial number of medical books, journals and clinical studies both internationally and nationally. He also teaches ophthalmology residents and medical students from Spain and other parts of Europe in the ophthalmology and cornea field.

    On a personal level, Mr Hernandez loves to travel and to spend time with his family. His current favourite pastime is raising his baby.

  • Dr Mehul Damani

    Dr Mehul Damani is an ophthalmic surgeon with extensive specialist training in refractive surgery and is considered a leader in his field by his patients and peers. He is a specialist in LASIK and PRK laser eye surgery, having performed over 19,000 procedures, and has mentored many ophthalmic surgeons during their refractive surgery training.

    He graduated from the University of Mumbai, where he won the Pfizer Medical award and medallion for first place in the final MBBS examination. He then became a Registrar at Grant Medical College and Sir J.J. Group of Hospitals in Mumbai, subsequently completing three years of specialist ophthalmology training with an emphasis on cataract and glaucoma surgery.

    Dr Damani widened his experience as a specialist doctor for Colchester General Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and Southend University NHS Hospital. He gained further specialist training in refractive surgery and was awarded the Certificate in Refractive Surgery (CertLRS) from the Royal College of Ophthalmologists, and has conducted observations in oculoplasty at Moorfields. He has presented many peer-reviewed medical papers and posters for the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery (ASCRS) and the European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery (ESCRS).

    Dr Damani is passionate about Indian classical music and loves to travel and explore different cultures and cuisines. He enjoys the process of training new surgeons.

  • Mr Dipak Parmar

    Mr Dipak Parmar completed his medical training at the United Medical and Dental Schools of Guy's and St Thomas's Hospitals in London. He completed his basic surgical training at King's College Hospital in neurosurgery and ophthalmology, after which he passed the FRCOphth examination to become a Fellow of the Royal College of Ophthalmologists. He completed his higher surgical training in ophthalmology and a fellowship in uveitis and medical retina at Moorfields Eye Hospital in London.

    Mr Parmar completed an international clinical fellowship in cornea, external diseases and refractive surgery at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, Texas, from 2003 to 2005. As a result of his training and research he has authored over 40 papers in peer-reviewed journals and has written 3 book chapters. He is one of the few eye surgeons in the UK to have undergone state-of-the-art training in refractive surgery in a prestigious clinical fellowship programme in the USA, and one of the first ophthalmology consultants in the UK to offer corneal collagen cross-linking treatment for keratoconus, in both private and NHS settings.

    He was awarded the CCST (Certificate of Completion of Surgical Training) and specialist registration under the General Medical Council in ophthalmology in 2003, and took up the post of consultant ophthalmic surgeon at Barts Health NHS Trust, London, in 2006. He moved on from the NHS in 2017 to further his career as an independent consultant ophthalmic surgeon based in London and Essex, and continues to perform high-volume cataract surgery for independent providers to the NHS on a biweekly basis. He regularly performs lens and laser based vision correction procedures in the United Kingdom and Ireland.

    Mr Parmar was awarded the Fellowship of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Ophthalmologists (FRANZCO) in September 2011. In 2023 he spent significant time working in busy private and public hospitals in rural south-west Australia, gaining a high volume of experience in general ophthalmology, cataract surgery, medical retina injections, and glaucoma including selective laser trabeculoplasty and iStent minimally invasive glaucoma surgery (MIGS).

    Mr Parmar has extensive surgical experience with over 15,000 eye surgeries completed to date, including over 10,000 cataract and lens surgeries and over 5,000 laser vision correction procedures.

Real patients, real reviews

What our patients say

  • Margaret Mc Clafferty

    I had LASIK done in Dublin after a consultation and follow up in Derry. From the very start, Elizabeth in Derry put me at ease with her approach. Such a warm, helpful way…

    Google Review
  • Shanna Blair

    Lianne is fabulous, great consultation lots of information and lovely to speak to

    Google Review
  • Ben Sheeran

    Fantastic staff. Lianne was really courteous and professional

    Google Review
  • Aline Bortolotti Secco

    I had a great LASIK experience at Optilase Carrickmines and couldn’t be happier with the results. Dr. Tom Materman is incredibly kind, attentive, and made me feel comfort…

    Google Review
  • Luke

    Very good experience throughout. Very helpful and friendly staff and a quick procedure done. Would recommend.

    Google Review
  • Carl Thorne

    Life changing. From the initial consultation to the aftercare, Optilase have been friendly, professional and caring every step of the way. No worry or concern was too sma…

    Google Review
  • Colm Smith

    Very happy with the operation, results and the aftercare

    Google Review
  • Thomas Mielimonka

    Fantastic experience through and through. Fred and the rest of Belfast team were a dream to work with. They explained everything, kept me well informed and honoured the …

    Google Review
  • Sarah Lennon

    Very nice staff. Very patient and accommodating. Made a nervous patient feel less so.

    Google Review
  • Gerard Mcphillips

    Very professional and appointments on time

    Google Review
  • D

    Great team, great experience. Anyone thinking about doing it, do it. Always on the end of the phone if there was any issues. Highly recommend!

    Google Review
  • Jason Farrell

    The entire process was smooth professional and completely stress free, I couldn't be happier with my outcome

    Google Review

Hyperopia questions answered

Common questions about long-sightedness, what causes it and how it can be corrected.

  • Hyperopia is the medical term for long-sightedness or farsightedness. It is a refractive error in which the eye does not have enough focusing power for its length, meaning light would focus behind the retina rather than directly on it.

    This commonly makes close-up vision more difficult, although stronger hyperopia can also affect distance vision.

  • Hyperopia is usually related to the natural shape and focusing power of the eye. It often occurs when the eyeball is relatively short, or when the eye does not have enough optical power to bring incoming light into focus on the retina.

    Genetics can also play a role, so farsightedness may run in families.

  • Common symptoms include blurred near vision, tired eyes and headaches after tasks such as reading or using a computer. You may also find yourself holding text further away to see it more clearly.

    Symptoms alone cannot confirm hyperopia. An eye examination can measure your prescription and establish what is causing your vision difficulties.

  • No. Hyperopia is a refractive error that can be present from childhood, while presbyopia is an age-related change in the natural lens that makes it progressively harder to focus on nearby objects, usually becoming noticeable from the 40s onwards.

    Someone can have both hyperopia and presbyopia at the same time.

  • The underlying hyperopia does not necessarily develop because of age, but it can become more noticeable. Younger eyes can often compensate for some hyperopia by changing the shape of the natural lens to increase focusing power.

    As this ability reduces with age, previously unnoticed hyperopia may begin causing blurred vision or greater dependence on glasses.

  • Laser eye surgery may be suitable if you are over 18, have a stable prescription and healthy eyes, and meet the corneal measurement and treatment criteria.

    Being over 18 does not guarantee it is the best option, particularly for hyperopia, because age-related changes such as presbyopia and cataracts also matter. A consultation will evaluate your prescription, cornea, eye health and natural lens before recommending LASIK, PRK or another treatment.

  • Yes, hyperopia can be corrected with laser eye surgery in suitable adults. LASIK and PRK reshape the cornea to adjust its focusing power so light focuses on the retina.

    Not every hyperopic prescription is suitable for laser correction, so your prescription, corneal measurements and eye health need to be assessed first.

  • Both LASIK and PRK can correct suitable hyperopic prescriptions. The better procedure depends on your individual eyes rather than hyperopia alone.

    Factors such as corneal thickness, eye-surface health, prescription, occupation and lifestyle will influence which treatment is recommended.

Browse all FAQs

Find the right vision solution for you.Book a consultation.

  • Laser Lifetime Care Guarantee
  • Clinical Experts
  • World-Renowned Surgeons