The difference between nearsightedness and farsightedness

When eyes need a little help to support better vision, it usually comes in one of two ways: nearsightedness and farsightedness. But the common names for these conditions can be a little confusing. They name the area where you can see clearly, but some people mistakenly think they name the area where glasses or contacts might help you see.

• Nearsighted (myopia): A condition that causes you to be able to see close things clearly but unable to see far things clearly

• Farsighted (hyperopia): A condition that causes the opposite — clear vision for distant objects but trouble focusing on things nearby, such as computer screens or books

This guide explains the difference between being nearsighted and farsighted is. It also looks at how vision correction options like contacts and glasses help myopia and hyperopia.

Nearsighted

Nearsightedness causes things that are far away to look blurry, but when you look at things up close, they're clear. If you can read your complex chemistry book or romantasy just fine but have trouble identifying street signs or people across a crowded room, you may have myopia.

This condition occurs when the eye doesn't focus light in the right place. Instead of focusing directly on the retina, which is the layer at the back of your eye that's supposed to sense light, your eye focuses light too far forward. This causes distant objects to be out of focus the same way they might be when seen through binoculars that aren't dialed in properly. 

Myopia can happen for several reasons. Sometimes, the eyeball is a little too long, which means light doesn't quite reach the right area. Sometimes, your cornea overbends the light coming into the eye.

Common symptoms of myopia include:

• Having blurred vision when you look at something far away, such as road signs

• Squinting to see things better when they're in the distance

• Finding yourself sitting closer to the television, leaning in to the computer screen, or holding books closer to your face

• Experiencing tired eyes or headaches, particularly toward the end of the day or after you've focused on distant objects for a while 

How contacts help myopia

Contact lenses sit on the front of your eye and help ensure light bends the right way as it enters your eye. By adjusting the bend of the light, it moves the focal point onto the retina, ensuring images are clearer. 

Have you ever used a magnifying glass to focus sunlight onto something? Most people have conducted this experiment at some point in childhood; you have to move the lens just so to get the sunlight to form an intense dot that may even be strong enough to start a fire if you have appropriate kindling. Contacts for nearsightedness work a little like that — they move the light just a tiny bit to form the "dot" at the right location, only you're trying to ignite clear vision, not a fire.

Farsighted

Farsightedness causes close-up things to look blurry. If you seem to have the vision of an eagle in identifying small animals across a meadow or can read the street signs several football fields away but the words on book pages or phone screens are difficult, you may have hyperopia.

This condition typically occurs for the opposite reason myopia does. Your eye overshoots the retina, focusing light behind it. Common reasons for farsightedness include an eyeball that's too short or a cornea that doesn't bend the light enough. 

Common symptoms of hyperopia include:

• Blurry or bothersome vision when you're reading or looking at things up close

• Feeling eye fatigue after working on close-up vision tasks, such as homework

• Experiencing headaches, particularly those in the afternoon or after close-up work that put pressure on the forehead area

• Having to move books or screens farther away to see them

How contacts help hyperopia 

Have you ever set up a projector? You know if the screen is too close to the projector, you either have to refocus the light coming from the machine or move the screen back. In the case of farsightedness, your retina is the screen, so it's not a great choice to move it. Contact lenses for farsightedness help refocus the light coming in to your eye so it falls appropriately on the retina, supporting clearer close-up images.  

What's the difference between nearsighted and farsighted glasses?

The main difference between nearsighted and farsighted eyeglasses relates to how they bend light. Nearsighted glasses bend light to focus it farther back toward your retina to help you see farther away clearly. Farsighted glasses, commonly called reading glasses, do the opposite.

Why do some people need both?

The eye focuses differently when looking close and far away, and some people have challenges with both. This is more common as people get older, because the lens on the eye (like everything else in the body) gets stiffer and harder to move. It can't change shape to accommodate different fields of vision as easily, leading to a condition called presbyopia, or a combination of nearsightedness and farsightedness. 

You can get bifocal or progressive contacts or glasses for this purpose. These lenses have different sections that bend light accordingly, helping to address both vision correction needs.

Nearsighted vs. farsighted

Nearsightedness means you see well close up and not so great far away. Farsightedness means the opposite. For people with blurry vision at any location, contacts or glasses help focus light in the right part of the eye and support crystal clear vision.

If you have a recent prescription for nearsighted or farsighted contact lenses, you can renew it online and order contacts to support your best vision today.

 

Did you know you can order contacts online? 

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