Do you struggle to see clearly up close? you may have hyperopia. However, it could also be presbyopia. The fact is they are optically similar but are caused by different means. Because of this, they have different treatment options.
Hyperopia occurs when the light that enters the eye can not focus on the retina, because the eye is to short, the light actually would focus behind the eye. This is caused when the eyeball is shorter than it should be. People can be affected by hyperopia at any age. Some childred will actually outgrow this condition, as they grow, so do their eyes. But if they do not, corrective lenses such as contacts of eyeglasses can be used to treat hyperopia. Lasik or other corrective surgeries may also be an available option.
Presbyopia will also cause people to have trouble focusing up close, but it is age an age related phenomena. It is the result of the lens inside the eye becoming harder and losing flexibility with age. The visual effect is very much like hyperopia; difficulty seeing up close. Generally, this is treated with corrective lenses. Reading glasses are commonly used when viewing objects up close. A simple choice that many people opt for is called monovision, this is when one eye is corrected for near vision and the other for distance vision; contact lenses are usually used for this. People who use monovision are forced to adapt to this new way of seeing things up close and at at distance. Very similar to bifocal or progressive eyeglasses, multifocal contact lenses can correct presbyopia.
Hyperopia only effects some and it is possible to treat it with surgery. Presbyopia will eventually effect us all, but until very recently was not treated with surgery. When eyes start to lose their flexibility they can’t focus on objects up close anymore, It is at this point treatment becomes necesarry. Even though there are surgical options available for presbyopia, the majority of people still choose a simple pair of readers. They are safe, they do not require an invasive procedure, and they are stylish. If losing your clear close vision due to presbyopia is a foregone conclusion, you may as well be fashionable when doing so.