Get a prescription paper written specifically for eyeglasses.

Note: The prescription for contacts CANNOT be used for eyeglasses.

Let’s take the following data as an exmaple:

SPHCYLAxisADDPrismBase
R (OD)+1.00-0.50179+1.502Up
L (OS)-0.50-1.25003+1.502Down
PD 64 – OR – R 32 / L 32
ODRight eye, latin for Oculus Dexter
OSLeft eye, latin for Oculus Sinister
OUBoth eye, latin for Oculus Uterque
SPHAbbr. of Sphere, the degree of correction, it corrects your near or farsightedness.
CYLAbbr. of Cylinder, it corrects your astigmatism, it will be 0 if you don’t have astigmatism
AxisIt indicates the orientation of astigmatism, measured in degrees from 1 to 180. It must follow with CYL. NO CYL, NO AXIS
ADD or NVAddition or Near Vision, it is calculated for getting the correction for reading or near vision, it can be used for bifocal or multifocal progressive glasses.
PrismPrismatic value, it is needed to compensate for any alignment problems in your eyes.
BaseThe direction of a prism. There are 4 directions, up, down, in, out.
PDPupillary Distance. It’s the distance in millimeters between the center of one pupil to the center of the other. How to measure my PD?

Now that you know what these terms mean, you know how to read a glasses prescription, which is the most important part of learning how to buy prescription glasses online.

Now you can shop online.