Hyperopia vs Presbyopia: Difference and Comparison

Eye defects are common among humans. It is ubiquitous to see people with spectacles or a contact lens. Hyperopia and Presbyopia have similar symptoms, but there are a few significant differences between them.

Key Takeaways

1. Hyperopia is a condition where a person can see distant objects. Still, it has difficulty seeing nearby objects, while Presbyopia is a condition that occurs as people age, causing difficulty seeing nearby objects.
2. Hyperopia is caused by the shape of the eye being too short, while Presbyopia is caused by the loss of flexibility in the eye’s lens.
3. Hyperopia is treated with corrective lenses or surgery, while Presbyopia can be treated with reading glasses, bifocals, or contact lenses.

Hyperopia vs Presbyopia

The difference between Hyperopia and Presbyopia lies in the age span when this may affect human eyes. While Hyperopia also occurs due to old age, it is also commonly observed among youngsters and babies too. At the same time, Presbyopia occurs only due to old age.

Hyperopia is a common eye defect that is seen among people. It makes your vision blurry while seeing things at a close distance.

You shall not be able to see the nearby objects clearly as in Hyperopia. People might develop strain in the eyes and even headaches while trying to focus on closer objects.

Comparison Table

Parameters of Comparison	Hyperopia	Presbyopia
Reason	Abnormality in the cornea or the lens of the eye.	Ageing is the primary reason for eye defect.
Reading Capacity	Can read in normal light	Requires brighter light to read
Age group	People of any age group is prone to develop Hyperopia.	People around 40 might develop Presbyopia.
Worst Case Symptoms	No significant worst-case symptoms	The symptoms get worse as people age.
Main Cause	Eyeball too short	The lens of the eyes loses its flexibility as people age.

What is Hyperopia?

Hyperopia is a problem in vision that makes nearby objects look blurry. It is indeed a very common eye problem that affects children too.

The major symptom of Hyperopia is a person with this problem shall have a headache or eye strain while focusing on objects that are in close range. You may also squint your eye to see those objects.

Hyperopia is mainly caused due to these three reasons

1. When the cornea becomes less powerful
2. When the lens becomes less powerful

It is significantly not identified during the formative years. But as you age, it might be prominent. This defect can be treated with appropriate spectacles or contact lenses.

As you can see the distant objects, the vision problem is also called Farsightedness.

What is Presbyopia?

Presbyopia is a vision problem that makes you lose focus to see nearby objects. That means to say you will not be able to see the objects in close range.

Presbyopia is considered normal and natural as you age. The main symptoms of Presbyopia are

1. You tend to hold the reading materials farther than usual
2. The normal seeing distance shall get blurry

The cornea and lens need to be flexible to pass the light rays appropriately. Once it loses it, you tend to find it difficult to see the objects close by.

Though Presbyopia is considered to occur as you age, there are a few other reasons to develop such vision problems. Also, the intake of antidepressants, antihistamines and diuretics can cause Presbyopia too.

Presbyopia can lead to serious vision loss when it is left unattended. It is also estimated that there are around 10.2% of Indian adults suffer from such vision problems.

Main Differences Between Hyperopia and Presbyopia

1. The main difference between Hyperopia and Presbyopia is the former can affect even children, while the latter is mostly an age-related vision problem.
2. Hyperopia shall never get worse as you grow old, while Presbyopia worsens and reaches its peak as you reach 65 years.

References

1. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02713689808951218
2. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0042698997001028