How to read my prescription

The information on your prescription can sometimes be quite confusing. Do not panic, it looks harder than it really is. Here, we explain what information is important and what it means. After two minutes you will certainly see much clearer.

Two lines are important on your prescription: the values for your right and the values for your left eye. The right eye is abbreviated with R and the left eye with an L. After that you will see a few abbreviations such as SPH, a minus or a plus sign, and a few numbers. The abbreviations are explained below. The minus value indicates that you are nearsighted and the plus value indicates that you are farsighted. The number behind the plus or minus value is your correction. The higher the values, the worse your eyes.

Sph stands for sphere

The sphere represents the degree of curvature needed to achieve normal vision.
Cyl or Zyl stands for cylinders

The cylinder appears only in your prescription if you have an astigmatism. Astigmatism means that the cornea is not evenly shaped, which looks like a cylinder, therefore the name.
A or Ach stands for axis

The axis is directly related to the cylinder and is only indicated if you have noted a cylinder on your prescription. The axis supplements the cylinder value and indicates the angle.
ADD stands for Addition

The ADD value is only indicated if you need a progressive lens and indicates the difference between the near and far values. So if you do not see any ADD value, we will not be able to produce progressive lenses.
PD stands for pupillary distance

The pupillary distance is required for each eyeglass order and serves to center the spectacles. You can either get from your optician, ophthalmologist or from us. Ask our opticians!
Pri stands for Prisma

The prism value is used to correct strabismus or angular deficiency.