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What is a refractive error or why do I need glasses?

Think of the eye like a camera. A picture is taken when the front of the camera focuses the light of the image directly on the film. Likewise in the eye, the front structures of the eye, the cornea and lens, focus light on the retina in the back of the eye. The retina is a nerve like structure which is like the film in the camera. In an eye with a refractive error (myopia, astigmatism or hyperopia), the front structures focus the light incorrectly and not on the retina. Glasses and contact lenses correct the poor focus. Refractive surgery also corrects this focusing error by slightly altering the shape of the cornea, the front window of the eye to focus light on the retina.

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