What is considered high hyperopia?

Is +0.5 in one eye and +0.75 in the other eye enough to make my eyes
tired at times, or is there any other reason? I mention this because I
have had glasses made for my hyperopia because I complained of tired
eyes when reading. But, I later found out the normal eye ranged from
-0.5 to +2.00. And I read that below +2.00 optometrist rarely
precribed plus lenses... Maybe something else is causing the
tiredness?

 

It would depend upon your age, your near phoria and your
accommadation/convergence ratio. Some people would find the correction to
help with reading fatique. I have loaner glasses in the office in a variety
of prescriptions that I lend to people with low hyperopia to try for a week
or two. If the loaner glasses help, they go ahead and get a pair made, if
not, we look for another cause of the tiredness.

Other causes of tired eyes when reading: dry eye, boring reading material,
lack of sleep, reading only at night before bed.

Dr Judy

 

It depends. If you're over forty it could, especially with early presbyopia.
Most children and young adults can handle that amount unaided
without any undue fatigue (if there's no accommodative infacility
problems etc)but it can catch up to you as you get older.
Also, if there's a binocular dysfunction (ie "ocular misalignment")-
that can also cause fatigue. So are the new glasses helping?



But, I later found out the normal eye ranged from

Not true about not rx'ing under +2.00 diopters- I just prescribed
a +1.50 to a 37 yr old today. Again, it all depends on age, symptoms
and other factors.

frank

 

Dear Dude,

The normal approach is to not "prescribe" a plus lens UNLESS
you complain of some effect. The plus has been
typically used for this purpose.

At the Naval Academy focal states between zero to +2.0 diopters
are considered to be completely normal.
It was recognized that a focal status of +1.0 diopters
(on entry) was very valuable, since the eyes showed
a general "downward" trend of -1/4 diopter per years.

A certain amount of "hyperopic reserve" was considered
to be of considerable value to the pilot at that point.

******

Re: How much "hyperopia" is "defective"?

Depends on your age.

In fact most of us are born with "hyperopic" (completely normal)
of from zero to +9 diopters. It is difficult to call
this "defective" considering that it is completely normal
at birth.

 

You do not mention your age. For most people, up to +1.00 is
acceptable. But, you must define the needs based upon several
factors. +0.50 is significant in your late thirties, is significant
when you are younger with symptoms such as headaches and eye fatigue,
is significant if your near-centered demands on your visual system
exceed what you have to give.
Everyone has an inherent ability to absorb visual stress. When
your eyes are weak (the plus prescriptions for hyperopia) you need to
focus your distance in which a person with normal eyes (emmetropia)
does not have to do. When you read, the normal person focuses only
for the near, but the hyperope must focus first his distance and then
his near which means that depending on the amount of prescription you
could be focusing twice as hard as you normally would. You need to
focus +2.50 to read. If you are already +1.00, you need to focus
+3.50; if you are +2.50 to start, you need to focus +5.00 to read.
From the standpoint of visual efficiency, anything causing you to
focus harder is causing you to work less efficiently. Everyone has a
finite amount of mental energy to do a given task (i.e. read a
chapter, write a report). With hyperopia, you are expending more
energy just deciphering what you are seeing so that you have less
energy left for understanding and comprehending what you are reading.
From a purely professional standpoint, if the prescription
alleviates your symptoms, which I believe it well based upon your
comments, I would recommend that you get it and wear at least for all
of your near centered work - reading, computer, video games, etc.
Some will say that the glasses will make your eyes more
dependent. Maybe yes, maybe no. Some hyperopes store a lot of
hyperopia in their visual system because that is they way that they
have gotten used to seeing. Again, from a purely visual efficiency
perspective, if this is the case, you need to release as much of that
hyperopia as possible to attain maximum efficiency and this first
prescription will be the first stepping stone in that journey.
This is the behavioral/developmental optometric approach to this
type of problem,

Thomas C. Kopan, O.D. - Dana Point, CA

 

(SomeDude) wrote in message
Dear Dude,

I know this sounds contradictory, but at 20 years old,
it is in fact a "wise" step to use a "plus" for reading.

If you are not going to college, then I would not
bother with the plus.

But if you are in college, I is a good idea to wear
the plus for reading.

You will never get "perfect" advice.

Otis Brown
Engineer

 

I'm not sure I agree with your reasoning here. It is quite normal for a
new baby to weigh less than 10 pounds. That doesn't make 10 pounds a
normal weight for an adult.

 

Would you care to post a citation regarding that most people are not
hyperopic? Or that it is not normal at birth to have the above?
Also, what correlation is there to birth weight and hyperopic babies?
I see your above argument is yet another ignorant post.

Because the Bates method worked for so many (during Bates time and
today), it was thought of quackery then and is still thought of
quackery now.

Most quackery dies off unless it shows positive results. Who now
sells snake oil? (This may be a bad example as I do not know if it
helps anything).

Anyhow, Bates is still around and is continuing to help many people.
Those who say the Bates method doesn't work either do not understand
it or have not done it long enough. It may take years, as one study
mentioned here last month also pointed out.

Kory