How to read a prescription

How to read a prescription.

It's essential to understand how to read your eyeglass prescription. That's why we put together this guide to help you understand your prescription.

Glasses Prescription Definitions:

OD = Refers to the right eye.

OS = Refers to the left eye.

SPH = Sphere corrects nearsighted or farsighted vision.

A “plus” (+) sign in front of the number means you are farsighted.

A “minus” (-) sign means you are nearsighted.

Farsighted = Unable to see things clearly at a far distance.

Nearsighted = Unable to see things clearly unless they are relatively close to the eyes.

CYL = Cylinder combined with Axis shows that you have astigmatism.

Astigmatism = A misshaped cornea or lens of the eye that causes blurry vision.

PD = Pupillary Distance is the measurement of the distance between the pupils

The numbers = Represent diopters, the unit used to measure the correction, or focusing power, of the lens your eye requires.

ADD = The additional value is used for bifocal, progressive, and reading glasses that help correct presbyopia. It is also known as the magnification power.