Understanding your Prescription
Can you explain my prescription?
This is a sample of a eyeglasses prescription.
| RIGHT(O.D.) |
+4.25 |
-1.50 |
025 |
+2.00 |
59 |
| LEFT (O.S.) |
+4.75 |
-2.50 |
025 |
+2.50 |
|
O.D. - Denotes Right eye. This is sometimes written
as R.
O.S. - Denotes Left eye. This is sometimes written as L.
Sphere (SPH)
Indicates how near-sighted or far-sighted you are.
It's measured in diopter.
+ indicates far-sighted vision
- indicates near-sighted vision
"Plano" or "Pl" means 0.00.
Cylinder (CYL)
Cylinder measures in diopters the degree of astigmatism
that you have.
Some prescriptions are written in minus(-) and some are written
in plus(+). Prescription provided by your optometriest usually have
a (-) cylinder.
AXIS
The Axis is a number anywhere between 0 and 180 degrees. It reveals
the orientation of the astigmatism.
Near Add
Near addition. Bifocal prescriptions, which correct both nearsightedness
and farsightedness, usually have "add" to indicate plus
power for near distance. If there is only one ADD power on your
prescription for bifocals, this means that the same ADD power is
used for both eyes.
I can't read my prescription.
If you cannot read your prescription you should
verify it with your optometrist. If you wish our customer service
team to look at it you can fax your prescription to 03 -95023518
along with your optometrist’s contact phone number and your
email address . Our customer service team will enter the prescription
for you. You will be notified by email once your prescription is
ready.
There is no cylinder value and axis value on
my prescription.
The CYL and AXIS are to correct astigmatism so
if you don't have astigmatism you may not have a CYL or AXIS value
on your prescription.
What is my Pupillary Distance(PD)? Why do
you need a PD measurement?
PD is the distance between the centre of two pupils when your
eyes are looking at a distance object in the front that are 60
centimetres away or beyond. It is measured in millimetres (mm).
This measurement is used for fitting prescription lenses.
You can get your PD from your Optometrist. The average
PD is 60mm for women and 64mm for men.

There is no PD value on my prescription, how
to measure my PD?
Remeber to ask your optometrist to measure the
PD for you next time when you visit the optometrist. Meanwhile,
you can have your PD measured with a ruler and the help of a friend
by following this instruction:
- Put the millimetre ruler on the bridge of your nose.
- Ask someone to stand approximately 60 centimetres away
from you and measure the distance between the centres of your
pupils (the black circle in your eyes) with your eyes looking
at a distance object in the front.
- You can measure pupillary distance yourself by using a
mirror. You will stand at least 30 centimetres away from the
mirror and measure the distance between your pupils with your
eyes looking at yourself in the mirror.
We recommend you always ask your optometrist to measure the PD for you.
Only measure the PD yourself as a last resort. It is important to get your PD from your optometrist
if your prescription has high power or if you are going to order progressive or bifocal lenses.
There are two PD values on
my prescription, why?
Sometimes, your prescription would have two numbers
for PD, for example "61/58". The two numbers are long
distance PD and short distance PD. The PD mentioned on our web site
refers to long distance PD, i.e. the PD when you are looking at
distance objects that are 60cms away or beyond. In this example,
the distance pd is 61mm. Short distance pd is the distance between
the centre of two pupils when you are looking at a object that is
35cms away from your eyes, for example reading a book. In this example,
the short distance PD is 58mm.
Please enter the large number, in this example 61, for the PD when
asked on our web site. Then in the additional note field on the
prescription screen, please enter both numbers as, for example "PD
61/58".
What if I entered my details incorrectly?
If you enter you details incorrectly then you need
to contact our customer service immediately so that
we can change the prescription before the frame is sent to the lab
for fitting. It is important that you do this since lenses
being cut for fitting cannot be refunded. However, the replacement
of lenses can be made at your own cost.
Can I use my contact lens prescription?
No. Contact
lens prescription can only be used for purchasing contact lens.
You will need a prescription for eyeglasses in order to purchase
eyeglasses or prescription sunglasses.
|