We aim to provide you with the best information to make an informed decision about your vision from your suitability to the treatment options available.
Conditions we treat
Long-Sightedness/ Hyperopia
Also known as hyperopia, long-sightedness can now be treated with advanced laser eye surgery, leaving you conveniently glasses-free and ready to tackle your day with fresh eyes.
Long-Sightedness/ Hyperopia
Not seeing clearly without glasses or contacts can be stressful, frustrating and debilitating. You never know when you might need to have clear vision at a moment’s notice. Glasses and contacts themselves can be lost, broken, cumbersome, uncomfortable or just plain dirty. Many activities are more difficult to do or enjoy if you need glasses or contacts.
Fortunately we have great permanent solutions so you can see clearly without reaching for your glasses or contacts from the moment you wake up. These include SMILE Pro, LASIK, PRK, and lens implants.
Best of all? 97% of people depending on glasses or contacts for clear vision are suitable for laser vision correction.
What Is Long-Sightedness (Hyperopia)?
Hyperopia, commonly known as farsightedness, is a focus error of the eye. With hyperopia, near objects become blurry before far away objects. So you see objects at long distances (far away) clearer than at near. So it is called far sighted / hyperopia, the opposite of near sighted / myopia. In myopia only the nearer objects are clear, and far are blurry.
Symptoms of Hyperopia
- Blurry vision when looking at nearby objects
- Eye strain or discomfort, especially during prolonged reading or close work, such as computer work or reading a phone
- Headaches after visual tasks
- Difficulty with near tasks such as reading or sewing
Causes of Long-Sightedness
- Hyperopia occurs when the length of your eyeball is too short for the focus power of your eye, preventing light from focusing directly on the retina.
- Genetics: A family history of hyperopia can increase the risk of developing the condition.
How Does Laser Eye Surgery Correct Long-Sightedness?
Carefully guided by our state-of-the-art ZEISS VISUMAX and MEL 90 laser devices, Dr Graham Fraenkel precisely applies an invisible and painless laser treatment to gently reshape the clear front surface of your eye (your cornea).
At Laser Vision SA, Dr Fraenkel chooses to use ZEISS precision lasers because they have been shown to be as safe and effective as other leading laser manufacturers, such as Alcon, in treating conditions such as long-sightedness¹.
Think of it like putting your spectacle or contact lens prescription on your eye so you don’t need to wear them. Laser vision correction is quick (10-15 seconds usually) and painless, and you can’t see the laser. The next day already, 9 out of 10 patients are driving without their glasses or contacts.
¹Brandenburg, T. M., Sitto, M. M., Hoopes, P. C., & Moshirfar, M. (2025). Comparison of Zeiss MEL90 and Alcon WaveLight EX500 excimer lasers in FDA premarket approval trials for the treatment of myopia, hyperopia, and mixed astigmatism. Journal of Clinical Medicine, 14(15), 5403. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40807023/
For long-sightedness (hyperopia) the invisible painless laser gently increases the curve of the front of your cornea, increasing the focussing strength of your eye. With more focusing strength your natural resting focus allows more distance and near focus so you can now see clearer without glasses or contacts.
Treatments for Hyperopia
Laser Eye Surgery Options for Hyperopia
Hyperopia can be treated with laser eye surgery. The most common types of laser eye surgery
How Do the Procedures Compare?
| SMILE Pro | LASIK | |
| Invasiveness | Less invasive | More invasive |
| Corneal flap needed? | No | Yes |
| Recovery time needed | Up to 2 days | Up to 7 days |
| Risk of dry eye | Minimal | Higher |
Hyperopia Procedures
SMILE Pro, like all laser LASIK, is quick and painless. The differences with SMILE Pro are SMILE Pro is one laser only, you don’t hear or smell the laser, and there is no flap created on the front of your eye as is needed for LASIK. SMILE Pro is therefore thought of as “minimally” invasive, which along with no flap is an attractive option for many people to correct their vision so they do not need to rely on glasses or contacts. Again, you are usually in our laser suite for less than 10 minutes, and the laser itself lasts only 10 seconds. It's that fast! Again, most patients can drive the next day without their old glasses or contacts. Laser Vision SA is extremely proud to have been one of only 16 eye clinics worldwide to be appointed by Zeiss to introduce SMILE Pro hyperopic treatments for patients.
All laser (fs) LASIK is quick and painless. After a 5mg valium tablet to help you feel more relaxed and comfortable, we make your eyes completely numb with eye drops. This means you don’t feel the laser and we can gently keep your eyes open for you. You don’t need to worry about blinking at the wrong time. The first laser creates a very thin (80µm) layer (flap) on the front of your eye. The second laser refocuses your eye under this layer. Each laser takes about 10-15 seconds and you don’t see or feel it. Your total time in our specialised laser suite is usually just under 10 minutes. There are drops to put in your eyes, you head straight home, and most can drive the next day without their old glasses or contacts!
Am I Suitable for Laser Eye Surgery for Long-Sightedness?
You are very likely one of the 97% of patients with long-sightedness who ARE suitable for laser vision correction. You can take our quiz below, but the best way to really know is to attend Laser Vision SA for a series of special tests with our state of the art diagnostic equipment which checks your eyes to confirm your suitability.
Suitability Quiz
Eligibility Criteria (Age, Prescription, Corneal Thickness, Health)
To be suitable for eye surgery for long-sightedness, you’ll need to:
- Be over age 21
- Have mild to moderate hyperopia (up to 6.0 dioptres) and/or astigmatism (up to 5.0 dioptres)
- Have a stable prescription for at least 18 months
- Have a pre-operative corneal thickness of at least 480 microns
- Have good ocular health
Not sure if you meet the criteria? Take our Suitability Quiz here
When Lens Replacement May Be More Suitable
The rare patient who is not suitable for laser vision correction, or patients over 45 who need reading glasses and would prefer trifocal vision, may be better with lens implants rather than laser vision correction. Lens implants are placed in your eye behind your coloured iris and dark circular pupil in the middle of your eye. You do not see them or feel them.
The procedure to place implants is performed under sedation and anaesthetic drops at a day surgery hospital and takes only 10 minutes per eye and is generally very safe.
Success Rates and Patient Outcomes
Laser eye surgery for long-sightedness (hyperopia) has a strong and well-documented success rate, supported by both recent assessments and large-scale reviews of clinical outcomes².
²Santhiago MR, Steigleman WA, Al-Mohtaseb ZN, et al. LASIK for hyperopia: a report by the American Academy of Ophthalmology. Ophthalmology. 2026 Apr;133(4):466–476. https://www.aaojournal.org/article/S0161-6420(25)00747-X/fulltext
Research into LASIK outcomes for mild to moderate hyperopia shows an approximate 90–95% success rate in achieving the intended correction. A large-scale review of 97 clinical studies — covering nearly 68,000 eyes treated with LASIK — found that 99.5% of eyes achieved functional unaided vision, and over 98% ended up within one dioptre of their target correction. Patient dissatisfaction rates were very low at just 1.2%
³Sandoval HP, Donnenfeld ED, Kohnen T, Lindstrom RL, Potvin R, Tremblay DM, Solomon KD. Modern laser in situ keratomileusis outcomes. J Cataract Refract Surg. 2016 Aug;42(8):1224–34. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27531300
⁴Solomon K.D., Fernández de Castro L.E., Sandoval H.P., et al; Joint LASIK Study Task Force. (2009). LASIK world literature review: quality of life and patient satisfaction. Ophthalmology, 116(4):691–701. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19344821
This means that if you are long-sighted, laser eye surgery may significantly reduce or eliminate your dependence on glasses or contact lenses. Results depend on the degree of your prescription, your corneal health, and your individual suitability — which is why a thorough assessment is the essential first step.
Book a consultation with our team to find out whether you are a candidate and which procedure is right for your eyes.
The Procedure and Recovery Process
Laser Vision Correction is performed in our special laser suite at our rooms at 169 Pirie St in the Adelaide CBD on Thursdays. Your total time at Laser Vision SA is 40 minutes, but time in the laser suite is usually just under 10 minutes.
Everybody is sensitive about their eyes, so it is normal to be anxious on arrival the day of your laser vision correction. All patients are given 5mg of valium (diazepam) on arrival. This means by the time you come to our laser suite, you will be feeling relaxed and comfortable, but not sleepy. In our laser suite the very first thing is strong numbing drops are placed in your eyes. This means the laser will not hurt, and we can keep your eyes open for you. You do not need to worry about blinking at the wrong time.
The laser itself is usually only 10–15 seconds and you do not see or feel it.
Almost all patients are quite surprised how quick and comfortable laser vision correction actually is.
For LASIK and SMILE Pro for hyperopia, immediately your laser vision correction is finished you will be able to see but vision will be quite foggy. So someone should get you to where you are staying overnight. We suggest a short nap when you get there. You will be able to watch television that evening, though vision will still be a little blurry. Next morning, vision will not be perfect, and may still be a little foggy, but 9 out of 10 patients are good to drive there and then without glasses or contacts. You may wish to work 3-4 hours on your computer from home. Hospitality workers can work from the Saturday i.e. 2 days later, and office workers back to work on the Monday. We are happy to provide the necessary medical certificates. Your vision will continue to improve even a little more over the next 4-6 weeks.
After SMILE Pro, you can undertake every task 24 hours later with no restrictions.
After LASIK we suggest no swimming for a week and no contact sports for two weeks.
Most patients can perform a few hours of work the next day. If you work in hospitality you are very likely to be able to work the first Saturday after you receive your laser vision correction on Thursday.
Almost all patients return to full office work on the first Monday after your Thursday laser vision correction.
We can provide the required forms to remove the indication on your drivers licence that you should wear glasses or contacts.
Overall, laser vision correction is as safe as long term contact lens wear, so very safe. As with all procedures however, there are risks.
- With modern laser vision correction, no one has lost an eye, gone blind, or lost a lot of vision. Otherwise we would not do this at all. The risk of losing a little sharpness of vision is 1/1,000 patients. A “little” means after vision correction you can only read 2 lines on the vision chart larger than before you had vision correction when you were wearing your best glasses or contacts. You would be able to see the two lower lines still, but they would be too blurry to read the letters. This would still be legal for driving and almost all activities. “Losing” means we could not get you reading those two smaller lines of letters again with more treatment or even glasses. Dr Fraenkel would demonstrate this to you prior to any procedure.
- Dry eye: Everyone has short term dry eye for 4-6 weeks after a vision correction procedure managed with eye drops. With the modern vision laser vision correction methods we use, such as thin (80µm) flap all laser LASIK, and SMILE Pro, the risk of dry eye is less than it used to be. In the rare event long term dry eye does occur this can be managed with a combination of different eye drops, temporary tear duct occlusion, eye lid treatments and occasionally oral tablets until your eye heals and dry eye is no longer a problem.
- Approximately 2% of patients need a “topup” laser to fine tune their vision as all people heal differently. This is usually at no charge.
- Some eyes react in an unpredictable fashion to laser treatment and develop a thinning that can lead to distorted vision in a process called ectasia. The risk of ectasia is greatly reduced by the many technologies and measurements we use to determine whether your eyes have any risk factors for ectasia. However ectasia can still happen very rarely even when no risk factors were found. Ectasia is treated with corneal cross linking and PRK in the rare event it happens.
At Laser Vision SA, we perform thorough pre-operative assessments to significantly reduce your risk of these potential side effects.
Why Choose Laser Vision SA for Long-Sightedness Treatment
Dr Graham Fraenkel an experienced industry leader in laser eye surgery, with over 28 years helping Adelaide patients achieve clear vision. He has performed over 35,000 vision procedures and the most SMILE SMILE treatments in Australia and New Zealand compared to any other eye surgeon. Dr Fraenkel has completed two years of dedicated Fellowship training in refractive surgery, one year in Sydney at the Sydney Refractive Surgery Centre Chatswood, and one year in London at the renowned Moorfields Eye Hospital. Dr Fraenkel has also completed two separate postgraduate diplomas in refractive procedures, one at the University of Sydney and one at University of Ulster. Dr Fraenkel has authored pioneering articles on refractive surgery published in the international peer reviewed scientific literature and now teaches international Fellowship students about refractive surgery himself.
Frequently Asked Questions
About 10% of patients will eventually need a small “top up” of their laser treatment for hyperopia as their eyes age and their natural ability to compensate for hyperopia reduces.
Yes, laser vision correction can correct short and long-sightedness, astigmatism, and even reading glasses.
Most patients are driving the next day. Hospitality workers are usually back to work the Saturday after the Thursday procedure, and office workers the Monday after.
No, not at all. This is a very common concern. The numbing drops we use for your eyes are the same ones we use for cataract surgery, which is a much bigger procedure, so you can be confident they make sure it is not painful. You will know they have worked, because your eyes will be numb and comfortable for the first parts of the vision correction, before we actually start the laser.
Worldwide, an average 95.4% of patients were satisfied with their outcome after LASIK surgery. With 16.3 million procedures performed worldwide, and more than a decade of clinical studies and technological innovation, LASIK surgery should be considered among the most successful elective procedures. LASIK surgery compares more favourably with other elective surgical procedures in terms of generally higher satisfaction rates
[Solomon KD, Fernández de Castro LE, Sandoval HP, et al; Joint LASIK Study Task Force. LASIK world literature review: quality of life and patient satisfaction. Ophthalmology. 2009 Apr;116(4):691–701. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19344821].
It’s normal to be anxious. We are all sensitive about our eyes and take our vision very seriously. That is why we are the only clinic in Adelaide to specialise only in laser vision correction. Most of our staff have received laser vision correction themselves, including Dr Fraenkel, so they know how you feel and how to help you. The 5mg valium helps you feel more comfortable, the eye numbing drops work really well, and Dr Fraenkel is talking to you the whole time, telling you what you will experience every step of the way, so there are no nasty surprises. At the end most patients are very surprised how quick and comfortable vision correction is, if a little weird.
Most people are nervous about flying but put up with it for hours for a temporary holiday. This is just 10 minutes in exchange for long term better vision. !
Book a Free Consultation
If you have any questions or would like to determine if laser eye surgery is suitable for you, please fill out the form below.
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