This is a condition in which the eye is larger than normal. It causes a refractive error in which parallel light rays from a distance converge at a focal point in front of the retina instead of on the retina itself, as they normally would. A person with myopia has trouble focusing clearly on distant objects.

Treatment

Myopia is corrected with glasses, contact lenses or refractive surgery (LASIK).

Hyperopia corresponds to an eyeball that is smaller than a normal eye; it causes a refractive error due to insufficient optical power, so that rays entering parallel to the visual axis focus behind the retina.

For the image to form at the level of the retina, the optical power must be increased, either through an accommodation effort or through the use of convex (positive) lenses. It is common for some patients to have a form of latent hyperopia that is spontaneously corrected by the tone of the ciliary muscle, so it produces no symptoms and requires no treatment until the accommodation deficit becomes noticeable (presbyopia).

Treatment

Hyperopia is corrected with glasses, contact lenses or refractive surgery (LASIK).

In a patient with normal vision (emmetropic), the cornea's curvature radii are equal; when they aren't, the person experiences blurred vision or image distortion and is considered to have astigmatism. It is often associated with myopia or hyperopia, which means vision is affected not only at a distance but also up close.

Treatment

Astigmatism is corrected with glasses, contact lenses or refractive surgery (LASIK).

Presbyopia, or tired eyes, results from the loss of the eye’s accommodation capacity, and affects men and women equally from their forties onward. It is a physiological aging process in which the ability to focus clearly on nearby objects gradually decreases.

A child's eye can shift focus from distant to very close objects (as near as about 5 cm) thanks to its great accommodation power, around 20 diopters. This capacity begins to decline as we approach age 40, causing nearby objects to appear out of focus and blurry at short distances.

Treatment

Historically, presbyopia has been corrected with glasses and contact lenses, and in recent years surgical techniques with varying results have been added. Now Método Benozzi®, the first pharmacological treatment for presbyopia, physiologically restores accommodation through the use of eye drops, allowing patients to focus at every distance again without glasses and/or surgery.