To better understand how refractive surgery may help correct your vision reducing and/or eliminating your need for glasses or contact lenses, let’s take a look at how the eye works. In order to see properly light rays must pass through different focusing eye structures. The light rays first pass through the cornea or clear window on the surface of the eye. The rays of light are then directed through the crystalline lens located inside the eye, which acts as another focusing structure directing the light rays to the retina on the back surface of the eye enabling it to process the image.