Myopia is also known as near-sightedness or short-sightedness. By its very name, it is the condition where the eye sees poorly from afar, but near vision remains clear. Like those who are farsighted, people with myopia squint in an effort to improve the sharpness of the image.

In all cases, contact lenses can be used to correct distorted vision, especially in astigmatism, where one can use toric lenses, and in myopia, where contact lenses allow the perception of a normal image when it is smaller behind near-sighted glasses. However, the use of contact lenses– and eyeglasses for that matter– does not cure the eye defect. To reiterate, it merely corrects distorted vision to enable one to see clearly, but the eye defect remains.

Eye contacts are the best optical correction because they allow the perception of a normal image as compared to the smaller image behind near-sighted glasses. One must remember, though, that spectacles and contact lenses correct the way light enters the eyes, but they do not cure myopia. In fact, there is currently no proven treatment that cures myopia.

Wearing glasses can be eliminated for medium or low myopia by instead resorting to laser surgery or fitting contact lenses inside the eye. These procedures do not, however, change the nature of the myopic eye and do not prevent the progression of myopia. This is why it is not suggested to resort to such measures before the vision is stable, usually after 23-24 years of age.