Understanding your Prescription
Reading your prescription can be a little intimidating, so that’s why we put together a short and simple tutorial guide to help you understand your prescription.
Typical eyeglasses prescription can look something like this:
Typically these are the only numbers we require from you in order to make your glasses, in the most basic form.
What do these terms mean?
- OD - Right eye
- OS - Left eye
- OU - Both eye
SPH (Sphere)
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The power required to correct your nearsightedness or farsightedness.
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(+) sign in front of the numbers means you are farsighted, you can see objects far away clear, but objects near you are blurry
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(-) sign in front of the numbers means you are nearsighted, you can see near objects clearly, but objects far away are blurry
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It is very important to indicate whether the numbers are (+) or (-).
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If the words “Plano” or “PL” appear in this section, it simply means there is no distance correction and is the same as 0.00.
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Examples of sphere numbers on your prescription and what to fill in:
-25 or - 0.25, select - 0.25 in the column
-100 or - 1.00, select - 1.00 in the column
+200 or + 2.00, select + 2.00 in the column
*Please note: sphere numbers greater than +4.00/- 8.00 will incur additional $10 charge, sphere numbers greater than +10.00/-10.00 will incur additional $25 charge.
CYL (Cylinder)
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The power required to correct your astigmatism.
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It is very important to indicate whether the numbers are (+) or (-).
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If the words “SPH” or “DS” appear in this section, it simply means there is no astigmatism correction and is the same as 0.00.
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Examples of cylinder numbers on your prescription and what to fill in:
-25 or - 0.25, select - 0.25 in the column
-100 or - 1.00, select - 1.00 in the column
+200 or + 2.00, select + 2.00 in the column
*Please note: cylinder numbers greater than +/- 2.00 will incur additional $10 charge.
**Please contact us if your cylinder number is higher than +/-6.00
AXIS
- The direction used to correct the cylinder power, ranging from 1-180 degrees.
- Axis is directly linked to CYL.
- If there is a CYL number present, then you must have an AXIS number.
- If there is no CYL number present, then there will be no AXIS number.
- Examples of axis numbers and what to fill in:
005 or 5, select the number 5 in the AXIS column
098 or 98, select the number 98 in the AXIS column
166, select the number 166 in the AXIS column
ADD
- ADD stands for the additional magnifying power that you need for reading. This number is only used for single vision reading, bifocal and progressive glasses.
- If you only need glasses to see far away and not for reading, you may not need or have this number on your prescription.
- The ADD number is the same for both eyes.
PD (Pupillary Distance)
- Pupillary Distance measures the distance between the center of your two pupils.
- This number lets us know where the main focus point needs to be for your glasses.
- It typically ranges from 58-70 mm for an average adult (measured in millimeters)
- It is measured in millimeters.
PRISM
- Prism in eyeglasses is used for correction of the following: positional, convergence and double vision.
- Prism correction will require:
- - Prism Correction Power which ranges from +0.25 to +4.00
- Base Direction which can be one of the following: In, Out, Up, Down:
- Examples of Base Direction and what to fill in:
- BI or IN, choose IN
- BO or OUT, choose OUT
- BU or UP, choose UP
- BD or DOWN, choose DOWN