Prescription Guide

Guide 101

Obtain a prescription

Where and how to get your prescription

First of all, you don’t need a prescription to wear a pair — non-prescription glasses, blue light filter and UV responsive lenses are also available. They protect your eyes with various functionalities in styles.

But if you do need prescription lenses fitted in your glasses order, then you will need a up-to-date valid glasses prescription first.

  1. Find an optometrist near you.

  2. Specify the goal of your exam (whether for glasses or contact lenses).
    You cannot use a contact lens prescription for a glasses order. Get your pupillary distance (PD) taken.

  3. Be sure to request a copy of your prescription. Your Eye Care Professional is required by law to provide you with such information.

  4. Take a picture of your prescription always have it handy and easily accessible through your phone’s picture album.

Read your prescription

Understand what vision corrections you need

Don’t get intimidated by all those numbers and terms, they indicate your vision corrective needs. Typically, you’ll see several abbreviations and words labeling all of the important data on your prescription.

*Not all prescriptions will have every field filled out. If you don’t have certain values on your script leave it blank.

Use the prescription sample below to help you navigate yours.

OD stands for oculus dexter which means Right eye.

OS stands for oculus sinister which means Left eye. 

Sphere (SPH) is Power. Measure for near (-) or far (+) sightedness. e.g. -12.00 to +6.00

Cylinder (CYL) measure for astigmatism. You will have this value if you have astigmatism. e.g. -4.00 to +4.00

Axis indicates the direction of cylindrical lens. You will have this value if you have astigmatism. e.g. 0 to 180

Pupillary Distance (PD) measure the distance between the centers of two pupils. PD can be written on your script as single PD or dual PD. e.g. 50mm to 76mm. Don’t have PD on your prescription? No worry. We are here to help.

ADD is additional plus power. If you have this value on your script. It means you have trouble seeing both near and far and is in need for multifocal lenses. e.g. +1.00 to +4.00.  

Prism is prismatic power, measured in diopters, needed to compensate for any alignment problems in your eyes.

Base indicates the direction of a prism by noting the relative position of its thickest edge. The orientation of the prism will be indicated by 'BU' (base up), 'BD' (base down), 'Bl' (base in), or BO (base out).

Lens Usage

The types of prescription we fulfill

Single-vision

These lenses correct one field of vision
—distance, intermediate or near (range +6.00 to -12.00).

  • Distance vision also known as nearsightedness (Myopia), which causes distant objects to look blurry.

  • Intermediate (Computer): have half the power of reading glasses and are tailored for viewing a computer screen anywhere from 20-40 inches away.

  • Near vision also known as farsightedness (Hyperopia), a common eye condition that causes nearby objects to be blurry.

Non-prescription

Get all the style and protection of our optical lenses, without vision correction.

You can also add blue light filtering or UV light responsive features to your non-prescription glasses.

Readers

Reading glasses are typically associated with an eye condition called presbyopia or hyperopia, which comes with age and is more or less unavoidable.

We offer simple magnification (range +0.25 to +4.00) for reading with optical graded lenses which gives you ultimate clarity that no drugstore readers can compare. (no prescription necessary)

  • If you have a Multifocal prescription, now we can only fulfill it in one of the single vision script —distance, intermediate or near. Because how glasses sit on your face affect the accuracy of progressive lens tremendously. If you want progressive or bifocal lens, just order the frame only option and have lens inserted locally with your own choice of optician.

Entering your prescription

Order with specific glasses usage

Now you’ve got a better understanding of your script. You can fill out the prescription detail accordingly.

Once your submitted your order, you will receive an order confirmation email to prompt you to reply with a copy/picture of your valid glasses prescription. We will validate your prescription and check your script entry to ensure accuracy before we process your Rx order.

Specify the intended vision correction usage for the glasses under comment section. We will help you fulfilled the rest. For example, if you have a multifocal script (progressive, bifocal) and would like to order glasses with single vision lenses in Distance Vision (nearsighted), Intermediate (computer distance) OR Near Vision (farsighted/reading).

Pssst! You can always leave the prescription detail blank and complete your order payment, and just email us a picture of your prescription afterward. We will help you with the rest.

Lens Guide

Choosing the right lenses based on your vision needs