How To Read Vision Prescription

In a typical prescription like the one above you ll find these abbreviations on the left side.

How to read vision prescription. This number always has a sign. For multi focal glasses as well as reading and computer glasses your rx will include an add or nv value. This is what they all mean. This is short for oculus dexter and is your right eye. These are latin abbreviations with os standing for oculus sinister or left eye and od standing for oculus dextrus or right eye.

They are latin abbreviations. To read an eyeglass prescription look for the labels o d and o s which stand for right eye and left eye respectively. The type of rx glasses may be noted on a prescription such as dv distance vision nearsightedness and nv near vision reading. When you look at your prescription for eyeglasses you will see numbers listed under the headings of os and od. If you re near sighted or far sighted check the sph column to find out how strong your lenses need to be.

The first step to understanding your eyeglass prescription is knowing what od and os mean. The following tips can help people read their eye prescriptions. Right and left eye. After an exam your doctor will prescribe eyeglasses or contact lenses or both. Nv your prescription might also contain the abbreviations dv distance vision or nv near vision.

Os oculus sinister means the left eye and od oculus. Positive numbers such as 1 00 explain how strong a lens needs to be to correct for farsightedness. Sphere sph the sphere column is often abbreviated as sph. If your prescription doesn t have a second or third number you most likely don t have astigmatism. Additionally read the cyl column to find the strength of lens you need to correct astigmatism.

They are abbreviations for oculus dexter and oculus sinister which are latin terms for right eye and left eye your eyeglass prescription also may have a column labeled ou. Identify a sign. There are different ways in which ophthalmologists may write prescriptions. Dv is the portion of your prescription which corrects your ability to see things far away. Or shows if you are long sighted longsightedness.