If you can see objects nearby with no problem, but reading road signs or making out the writing on the board at school is more difficult, you may be near- or shortsighted.

This condition is known as myopia, a term that comes from a Greek word meaning "closed eyes." Myopia is not a disease, nor does it mean that you have "bad eyes." It simply refers to a variation in the shape of your eyeball. The degree of variation determines whether or not you will need corrective eyewear.

In a normal eye, the cornea and lens focus light rays on the retina.  In myopia, the eye is too long or the cornea is too steep. Distant objects appear blurry because images focus in front of the retina instead of on it.