We at VisionSmith, serving Plymouth, MN and the surrounding areas, often get asked what it means to have refractive error. There are some people, the lucky ones, that can hop out of bed in the morning and begin their daily routine without much else on their minds other than
Nearsighted, Farsighted, Astigmatism - What is Refractive Error?
Refractive error refers to the inability of the eye to focus light onto the retina. The different types of refractive error are nearsightedness, farsightedness, and astigmatism. When a person is labeled as being nearsighted, that means they are only able to see things close by. A nearsighted eye has light that is focused in front of the retinal tissue. In contrast, when a person is labeled as being farsighted, they see things better at a distance than at near. Astigmatism refers to an irregular shape to the front of the eye or lens that cause different curves, that in turn cause two different images to fall on or around the retina.