There are two kinds of lenses prescribed for improving or correcting a nearsighted vision. These include eyeglasses and contact lenses. Eyeglasses are otherwise called as spectacles. They are the most common eyewear from to correct nearsightedness. Contact lenses are directly worn on the cornea of the eye. The same as eyeglasses, contact lenses help in correcting refractive errors and perform this function through adding or subtracting the focusing power to the cornea of the eyes and the lens.

Nearsighted lens could include concave lenses. These lenses are thinnest in the center and used to correct the nearsighted problem. When it comes to contact lenses, there are more than 30 million Americans who wear contact lenses today. Eight percent wear daily ware soft contact lenses. There are four types of contact lenses. These include the rigid, gas-permeable lens, soft, water-absorbing lens, flexible, non-water absorbing lenses and other rigid lenses.

A contact lens prescription includes more information than available on prescription eyeglasses. Special measurements are needed to be taken on the eye curvature. Moreover, the physician determines if the eyes are too dry for contact lenses and finds out if there are corneal problems that could prevent one from wearing them. There are usually trial lenses tested on the eyes for a period of time to ensure proper eye fit.