Does long sightedness get worse with age?
The prescription itself usually changes little. What changes is your ability to compensate for it: the lens stiffens with age, so the same amount of long sightedness becomes harder to hide, and people often notice symptoms in their thirties or forties that were always there.
- Subject
- Vision problems
- Topic
- Hyperopia (long sightedness)
- Kind of question
- Other questions
- Procedures
- LASIK, SMILE
- Last reviewed
- 22 September 2026
In more detail
This is also why someone can be told they are long sighted at 42 after a lifetime of seeing well. The finding is not new; the compensation is.
What this answer depends on
- Your measured prescription now versus earlier records
- How much of your blur is at distance and how much at near
- Whether presbyopia is developing at the same time
Related guides
People also ask
The questions readers move to next from this one: the closest subjects first, from either question bank.
Where this answer sits
It is one of 483 answers in the vision and eye health knowledge base, filed under Vision problems & prescriptions in Hyperopia (long sightedness) . The subject page carries the answers either side of it, and the hub is searchable.
Subjects this question touches
The pages that answer the subject behind the question, rather than the question itself.
- Procedure SMILE
- Comparison LASIK vs SMILE
- Comparison SMILE vs PRK
- Place SMILE in Dubai
- Procedure LASIK
This information is for educational purposes and does not replace an examination by a qualified eye-care professional.
General answers cannot tell you what is happening in your own eyes. Only an examination by a qualified ophthalmologist can do that.
Sources & further reading
We prefer primary sources. Where a claim comes from a manufacturer, a single study or a regulator, it is labelled as such below.
- EyeSmart: eye health information for the public
Patient-facing material from the largest ophthalmology professional body, covering conditions, tests and treatments outside refractive surgery.
Used for Cross-checking patient-facing explanations of non-refractive eye conditions; Describing what tests such as dilation and OCT involve.
Link checked 23 September 2026