What is Hyperopia?

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Hyperopia is an error in visual focus that normally manifests as blurry vision when looking at nearby objects, although at a certain age or depending on the grading, it might also affect distant vision.  

Vision with hyperopia

Hyperopia occurs when the eyeball is shorter than normal, or the cornea is not curved enough, or because of both reasons in combination. All this means that the images are focused behind the retina, which causes blurry vision of the object being observed. It has the opposite effect of myopia.  

How many people are affected?

Hyperopia is a very common refractive error. Almost 30% of the population has hyperopia in Europe. 7 of every 10 babies are born with hyperopia, due to the eyes being small. As the newborn grows, there is also growth of the eyeball, which means that the hyperopia usually recedes. 

Substantiated information by:

Jorge Peraza Nieves
Mireia Hereu

Published: 21 October 2020
Updated: 21 October 2020

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