Myopia, or nearsightedness, is a common vision condition, or refractive error, that affects nearly 30 percent of the population. A refractive error means that the shape of your eye doesn’t refract the light properly, so the image you see is blurred. Myopia occurs when the curvature of the cornea is too steep or the eyeball is too long, causing light entering the eye to be focused in front of the retina, rather than directly on the retina. Near objects are seen clearly, but objects in the distance appear blurry. For our eyes to be able to see, light rays must be bent or “refracted” so they can focus directly on the retina, the nerve layer that lines the back of the eye. Together, the cornea and the lens refract light rays. The retina receives the picture formed by these light rays and sends the image to the brain through the optic nerve.