Farsightedness, or hyperopia, is a refractive error of the eye that causes near objects to appear out of focus while distant objects may be seen clearly.  Nearsightedness occurs when length of the eye is too short and incoming light has not yet come to focus when it reaches the retina at the back of the eye. Because the eye isn’t focusing light directly on the retina, the images you see may be blurry.

The flexible lens inside the eye can compensate for this error to some extent, but this lens becomes less flexible with time.

As a result, hyperopia may not be apparent in young children but will become noticeable with age, necessitating glasses or contact lenses for correct vision. If you have family members who are farsighted, you are also more likely to become farsighted.  About 30 percent of Americans are farsighted.

Farsightedness can be corrected with a contact lens that moves the point of focus closer to the front of the eye than it would without correction, causing it to fall directly on the retina.