Reading glasses prescription may seem like a daunting task, but it’s easier than you think. In this post, we’ll break down the different components of your prescription and provide examples to help you understand what each term means. By the end, you’ll be able to read your prescription with ease.
What is a Prescription?
A glasses prescription is a set of numbers and abbreviations written by an eye care professional that indicates the type and strength of lenses needed to correct your vision. The first step in reading glasses prescription is to understand the meaning of these nouns. There are four main components:
- PD (Pupillary Distance)
- Sphere (SPH)
- Cylinder (CYL)
- Axis
Let’s dive into each of these components and understand them better.
PD (Pupillary Distance) in Reading Glasses Prescription
What is PD?
Pupillary Distance (PD) is the distance between the centers of your pupils, measured in millimeters. It’s essential for proper alignment of your eyeglasses, ensuring the lenses are positioned correctly in front of your eyes.
How to Read PD on Your Prescription
PD may be listed as a single number or two numbers separated by a slash. If it’s a single number, like 62, it represents the total distance between your pupils. If it’s two numbers, like 31/31, it represents the distance from the center of your nose to the center of each pupil.
Example:
PD: 62
or
PD: 31/31
Sphere (SPH) in Reading Glasses Prescription
What is Sphere?
The Sphere (SPH) value in your prescription indicates the strength of the lens needed to correct your vision. It’s measured in diopters (D) and can be positive or negative, indicating farsightedness (hyperopia) or nearsightedness (myopia), respectively. This is also the most common data in Reading glasses prescription
How to Read Sphere on Your Prescription
The SPH value is usually listed with a plus (+) or minus (-) sign followed by a number. The higher the number, the stronger the prescription.
Example:
OD (Right Eye): -2.00 OS (Left Eye): +1.50
In this example, the right eye is nearsighted, and the left eye is farsighted.
Cylinder (CYL) in Reading Glasses Prescription
What is Cylinder?
The Cylinder (CYL) value represents the strength of the lens needed to correct astigmatism, a common vision problem caused by an irregularly shaped cornea or lens. Like the Sphere value, CYL is also measured in diopters.
How to Read Cylinder on Your Prescription
The CYL value is listed with a plus (+) or minus (-) sign followed by a number. If you don’t have astigmatism, your prescription may have “DS” (diopter sphere) or “Plano” written in the CYL column, or it may be left blank.
Example:
OD (Right Eye): -1.00 OS (Left Eye): +0.75
In this example, both eyes have astigmatism.
Axis in Reading Glasses Prescription
What is Axis?
The Axis is a number between 1 and 180, which indicates the orientation of the astigmatism correction in your lenses. It’s measured in degrees and is only present if you have a Cylinder value in your prescription.
How to Read Axis on Your Prescription
The Axis value is listed as a whole number, typically between 1 and 180. If there’s no Cylinder value, the Axis will also be absent.
Example:
OD (Right Eye): 110 OS (Left Eye): 75
In this example, the astigmatism correction for the right eye is at 110 degrees, and the left eye is at 75 degrees.
Wrapping Up
The above is the content of the topic of Reading Glasses Prescription, now that you understand the various components of your eyeglass prescription, you can confidently discuss your prescription with your eye care professional and make informed decisions about your eyewear. Remember that it’s always essential to have regular eye exams to ensure your prescription is up-to-date and that your eyes are in good health.
