Nearsightedness or Myopia occurs when the eyeball is too long for the focusing power of the lens and cornea. The result is an overpowered eye that causes images to focus in front of the retina. A myopic eye sees near objects within a certain range very clearly while distance vision appears blurry at all times. An estimated 70 million people in the U.S. suffer from myopia. To correct myopia, a ‘minus’ lens is required to push the image to the back to the retina permitting sharp distance vision.

The shape of a myopic eye focuses the image in front of the retina resulting in blurred distance vision. A ‘minus’ lens decreases the focusing power of the eye correctly focusing the image on the retina producing clear vision at all distances.