How to read your lens prescription

A lens prescription is a document that is filled in by a qualified optician or ophthalmologist and collects all the necessary parameters to correct your vision problem.

1. Observe your prescription. Locate the initials OS and OD. These are abbreviations of the left eye (OS) and right eye (OD) in Latin. You may also see OU, referring to both eyes.
2. Now look at the numbers next to the abbreviations. The higher the number is, the worse the visual defect will be. The first number is the diopters (also called spherical) and can be positive (indicating farsightedness) or negative (indicating myopia).
3. If you can see more digits for one or both eyes, this means that you have astigmatism. This means that you will have three values: Spherical, Cylindrical and Axis. The cylindrical can be positive or negative, axis values are between 0° and 180°.
4. If you have presbyopia, two graduations will appear: one for near and the other one for far. The graduation for near may appear as the far one (spherical, cylindrical, axis) or only indicate the addition for near, a value between +0.50 and +3.50 that is depending on the age.
5. Also, on your prescription may appear two values: inter pupillary distance and separation of centers.

How to know your Pupillary Distance?

This measurement is not usually included in the lens prescriptions, but is necessary. If you don’t have it, we suggest several ways to obtain it:

• Send us your eyewear

  You can send us your old or spare glasses. The inter pupillary distances do not change. If your glasses have been properly graduated by an optician, the measurements will be the same. If your graduation has not changed either, we can also figure it out for you through the lenses of your glasses.

  How to send them

  You can send them directly to:

  ÓPTICA HERRADORES (OPTICAL H)
  Herradores, 70.
  38201, San Cristóbal de La Laguna,
  Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain
  

  You can also place an order for glasses without prescription to try them at home. If you decide to keep any of the selected frames, put in the return package the chosen frames, the discarded frames, and your old or spare glasses. We will use your old glasses to obtain the inter pupillary distance (and the graduation, if it has not changed). We will resend your new graduated glasses and your old ones in the same package. If you need help, contact us.