How to Read My Prescription

How to Read
My Prescription

On a typical prescription, you will see two sets of rows. Most of the time top portion is for your OD or right eye while the bottom portion is for your OS or left eye.

For Distance correction, there should always be a value under Sphere and most of the time it is negative. Its abbreviation is 'D.V.' which stands for Distance Vision.

For Reading-only correction, there should always be a value under sphere and most of the time it is positive. If there is a value under Near Vision (N.V., N.V.O.) then enter the power in the BOTTOM half of the form and leave the ADD power blank or ("0.00").

For astigmatism correction, please note that that Cylinder (CYL) and Axis are always provided together. For any value of Cylinder there should always be a value for Axis. Some doctors use positive (+) cylinder and some uses negative (-), there is a big difference between the two so please pay close attention to the positive and negative signs. If you don't have astigmatism correction, doctors might just leave it blank or simply SPH or DS which means Sphere or Diopters Sphere. Axis should be from 1-180 degrees, if you see a value like '5' under axis, this is also the same as '005' or '5 degrees'. It should always be a whole number and there should no be decimal point on the axis.

For Bifocals, Progressive lenses and Freeform lens, please check with your eye doctor whether the Addition is for Bifocals, Progressive and Freeform lens. Most of the time, compared to the Bifocal Addition, the Addition of the Progressive and Freeform is higher by 0.25, so please verify. An indication to know if your prescription is for Progressive and Freeform, is a PAL note written on the prescription. Only one ADD, means the addition for the Left and Right eyes are the same. Please be advised that we process a minimum of +1.00 and maximum of +3.50 for Addition powers.

Eye Doctors will sometimes leave out the decimal point on the Sphere, Cylinder and Addition. For example, -25 or +175, this is understood -0.25 and +1.75. Very importantly, pay close attention to plus and minus sign as this will greatly affect the lens. If there is anything on the prescription you are not familiar, please contact our Customer Service and we will be happy to assist you.