What type of refractive procedures benefit hyperopic eyes?

Steepening the cornea is beneficial for hyperopic (farsighted) eyes because they typically have a corneal curvature that is not steep enough to focus light directly onto the retina. In hyperopia, distant objects may appear clear, but close objects tend to be blurry due to the light rays focusing behind the retina.

By steepening the cornea, refractive surgery procedures, such as LASIK or PRK, can increase the overall curvature of the cornea, allowing it to better focus incoming light on the retina, thus providing improved vision for near objects. This adjustment corrects the focal point, helping to alleviate the symptoms of hyperopia.

The other options do not provide the necessary corrective changes for hyperopic vision. Flattening the cornea would typically be aimed at correcting myopia (nearsightedness), while reducing pupil size or increasing lens thickness are not direct corrective measures for addressing the underlying refractive error associated with hyperopia.