What are refractive errors of the eye?
• Refractive (re-FRAK-tiv) errors of the eye, also called errors of refractions or EOR, are common eye disorders. In the normal eye, light rays must be refracted (bent) by the cornea and lens into the retina. The cornea is the clear, smooth, and dome-shaped surface that covers the front part of the eye. From the cornea, light passes through the pupil (black circle in the middle of the eye) and hits the lens. The lens is a clear, flexible disc in your eye that changes shape to accommodate (allow) light. The iris (colored part of the eye) helps the lens to adjust as one looks at objects at different distances. Finally, the retina transforms the light into electrical signals which are sent to your brain. The brain then uses these signals and tells you what you see. • With EOR, there is a problem in the refraction of light by the eye. The shape and texture of the cornea may be abnormal or the lens may have become less flexible. When this happens, the cornea and lens fail to bend and focus
