The problem of farsightedness is quite common in ophthalmology. It can occur at a young age, and even in children, not to mention age-related farsightedness, which is considered normal. To date, many methods have been developed to treat farsightedness. We suggest considering some of them in our article. So, further we will focus on the treatment of hyperopia in adults.
The appearance of farsightedness. Causes
The human eye is a complex optical device. The lens of the human eye is able to adjust focus when looking at objects located at different distances. With farsightedness, focusing on objects close by becomes difficult, and a person sees far better than close. This difficulty is due to the fact that the refraction (refraction of the light beam) deviates from the norm, and the image is focused behind the retina.
Often there may be a combination of two causes of farsightedness: the shape of the eyeball may be irregular (reduced) in combination with a weakened optical power of the cornea. But with the normal structure of the eyeball, hyperopia can occur quite rarely due to insufficient weakness of the optical system of the eye.
People suffering from hyperopia (as ophthalmologists call farsightedness), which arose not due to age-related changes, often cannot consider not only close objects, but also too far-reaching ones. And only when a certain age is reached (each one, as a rule, has his own), the lens gradually weakens, and significant visual impairment can be observed, especially near.
Types of Hyperopia
In addition to physiological natural farsightedness, such an optical system can be innate. There is also age-related hyperopia, it also requires treatment, but more on that later. All children are born with farsightedness, but over time, vision should normalize, the eyeball should become a normal length. If this does not happen by the age of 8–9 years old, children's farsightedness is recognized, which may also be due to the weak inborn refractive power of the cornea or lens.
If congenital farsightedness is at or above 3.0 diopters, strabismus may develop, which is formed due to overstrain of the oculomotor muscles, when the child constantly reduces his eyes to the nose to adjust clarity. The progression of the situation can result in another disease of children's vision - in amblyopia, when one eye is sharply weakened.
The most common is age-related farsightedness, called presbyopia by doctors. This is a natural process of "aging" of vision, and most often people from 40-45 years old are exposed to it. The lens tissue is densified, it is no longer so elastic and gradually loses its ability to refract light rays.
Often farsightedness can occur in a latent form, people at a young age may not feel it due to the good accommodation (refractive ability) properties of the eye. However, over time, constant overstrain leads to eye fatigue and headaches, a problem of farsightedness will be discovered, the treatment of which will be necessary so that complications do not arise otherwise.
Do I need to be treated?
Farsightedness treatment is dangerous to ignore, especially at a young age (due to the high risk of complications). It can be strabismus, inflammation of the eye membrane (conjunctivitis), syndrome of the “lazy" eye - one eye may not see at all. Such complications are practically impossible to correct.
The subsequent progression of hyperopia without treatment in adults may lead to a deterioration in the outflow of intraocular fluid, and subsequently glaucoma. In advanced cases, it leads to loss of vision.
Unfortunately, many processes in our body are inevitable. and it is impossible to prevent age-related hyperopia, but its treatment is possible in the form of correction or surgical treatment. By contacting an ophthalmologist in a timely manner, you can avoid many problems later.
Conservative treatments for hyperopia
How can such a deviation be treated? The specialist can prescribe various methods of treating hyperopia depending on the degree of the disease, its nature and age of the patient. They can be divided into conservative and surgical methods. Surgical are divided into those that pass with and without intervention (laser hyperopia treatment).
Conservative methods include writing out appropriate glasses or lenses. Glasses are the most convenient form of correction of hyperopia assigned to both children and for the treatment of age-related hyperopia in people after forty years. Their main difference is the simplicity and practicality of use. It is especially important to start wearing correction glasses for the treatment of hyperopia in children as early as possible in order to avoid various complications.
Another method of conservative correction of hyperopia is wearing lenses, the so-called contact correction. This method is used in the treatment of mainly young people 18-30 years old and brings visual acuity to normal without visible deformations and zooming when wearing glasses. However, the use of corrective lenses is fraught with the risk of infection, conjunctivitis, keratitis and hypoxia (lack of oxygen) of the cornea.
Hypermetropia hardware treatment
Also conservative methods include treatment with such modern hardware methods as:
- Electrical stimulation.
- Ultrasound Therapy
- Vacuum massage procedures.
- Wearing massager glasses.
Hardware treatment takes place 4-5 times a year. Such therapy may consist of different methods of stimulating vision.
Using conservative methods, in the aggregate, good results can be achieved in correcting the hyperopia of a certain stage. Usually, conservative treatment with the above methods is used to treat children with farsightedness. With an earlier appeal to conservative correction methods, you can subsequently save the child from wearing glasses.
Laser
Laser correction of visual disturbances is the most effective and modern method of treating both myopia and farsightedness. At its core, the laser method has a reinforcement of the mechanism of corneal refraction due to exposure to excimer laser beams . Many experts talk about the positive reviews of the treatment of hyperopia with the help of various laser techniques. There are many of them, the doctor will help you choose the optimal one.
Laser correction is recommended for the treatment of hyperopia in adults over 18 years of age, and is prescribed only by the attending physician after an appropriate examination of the patient. However, when treating with a laser, it is important to consider contraindications.
Contraindications (temporary) for laser vision correction
Many experts do not recommend correcting hyperopia with a laser technique for patients older than 45-50 years, as age-related processes of changing the optical system of the eye begin. Contraindications for laser hyperopia correction are divided into relative (temporary, which must be waited for) and absolute. Among the relative contraindications:
- Age up to 18 years, since it is impossible to guarantee a stable correction result.
- Pregnancy, the postpartum period and the period of breastfeeding.
- Rapid visual impairment during the current year. In such a situation, therapeutic treatment is necessary to stabilize vision.
- Various inflammation of the eye membranes.
- Dystrophic retinal changes leading to retinal detachment. In this case, laser coagulation may be prescribed first, depending on the severity of the changes.
- Malfunctions of the immune system. It is necessary to fully recover the body as a whole for the subsequent normal healing from laser surgery and avoid complications.
Absolute contraindications
Absolute contraindications, in which it is impossible to do laser correction of hyperopia (myopia), are:
- Diabetes mellitus and other chronic diseases (bronchial asthma, AIDS, rheumatism, etc.).
- Chronic skin diseases (psoriasis, eczema, etc.) and a tendency to scarring.
- Diseases of the cornea of a chronic nature (glaucoma, cataract, etc.) and its insufficient thickness.
- Mental and neurological abnormalities.
- The presence of a pacemaker in the patient’s body.
Laser treatment for hyperopia
You can list these benefits:
- Recovery of visual abilities in a short time (one to two days).
- After the operation, there are almost no restrictive loads.
- Preservation of the structure of the cornea.
- The absence of an open wound after surgery.
- Pain occurs within 2-3 hours after surgery.
- Achieving a refractive effect and a stable result.
- The ability to treat two eyes at once.
- After the operation, the cornea does not cloud at all.
- Correction of high degrees of farsightedness (in combination with astigmatism).
Surgical intervention
Although laser techniques are considered surgical intervention for vision correction, they are not abdominal. If laser methods for treating hyperopia are contraindicated, intraocular surgery can help. Before the operation, individual and related features, as well as the degree of changes in vision, are necessarily taken into account.
Basically, such operations are prescribed for older people or with high (+20 diopters) hyperopia caused by loss of lens elasticity. Young patients and patients suffering from presbyopia, often prescribed lens replacement or implanted phakic intraocular (intraocular) lenses for treatment.
Intraocular lenses
Intraocular lenses are implanted in patients with a high degree of both myopia and hyperopia, as well as astigmatism, in patients with a thin cornea of the eye.
The use of intraocular lenses is considered effective in cases where the elasticity of the lens is still preserved, it can not be removed, and the inserted lens will help maintain the ability to see objects near and far, performing a refractive function.
The installation of intraocular phakic lenses is an alternative to the laser method. The result of the operation is stable and reversible, it does not violate the shape of the cornea. The implantation of intraocular lenses is more physiological compared to a laser and is therefore suitable for patients under the age of eighteen.
The benefits of surgery are:
- the absence of dystrophy (lenses do not contact the cornea and iris);
- almost complete biocompatibility with the human eye;
- ultraviolet rays practically do not penetrate through the intraocular phakic lens;
- quick and painless postoperative restoration of the visual system.
Artificial lens
In cases where the patient’s lens is not elastic at all and the ability to accommodate is impaired, they resort to replacing it with an artificial one. This is a serious surgical intervention, but the recovery period is relatively short.
This operation is similar to cataract removal, during which a cloudy lens is removed. The operation can be performed on an outpatient basis, the surgeon removes the lens through ultrasound and makes an intraocular lens of the desired diopter through a small incision. At the same time, sutures are not superimposed, and vision is restored again after about a day.
Lens removal is recommended for hyperopia of any degree, but is mainly used for patients older than forty-forty-five years.