rybak+eyes+2

Refracting is a big word that means bending light rays. If a person has vision trouble, it's often a refractive problem. Glasses or contact lenses work so well because they can correct refractive problems. In other words, they bend the light rays in a way that lets you see more clearly. Laser surgery also can correct some vision problems, but it's not recommended for kids because they're still growing.

When your eye looks at something, the light rays come together, or focus, inside your eye. In someone with perfect vision, the rays focus directly on the surface of the retina. The image also must shrink, and it needs to be curved, because the retina is curved. The pupil and cornea are responsible for shrinking, focusing, and curving the image. If they have any irregularities, your vision will be blurry.Nearsighted individuals cannot clearly see things that are distant. This happens because the light rays come into focus in front of the retina. Farsighted individuals have the opposite problem. The shape of their eyes causes the light rays to come into focus behind the retina, causing things that are near to them to be out of focus. Some people have blurry vision due to an astigmatism, or a condition where the curvature of the eye is irregular, creating a second focal point within the eye. All three of these common problems can be corrected with glasses.