02 Understanding your prescription

Start guide

02 Understanding your prescription

Here's how it goes down...

Book an eye exam with your optometrist before purchasing your new pair in order to have an up-to-date prescription at hand. You can book an eye test below.

1. Get an eye test

An eye test involves a series of tests that determine the health of your eyes. We have partnered with The Eye Doctors in Lagos to bring you quality & comprehensive eye exams.

Book a test

2. Keep a copy

You may find your prescription intimidating at first, but this handy piece of card indicates the corrective measures your eyes need.

3. Have your PD ready

Your pupillary distance is the distance between the centres of your pupils. It is used to properly align your lenses and ensure accurate vision.

How to measure PD

4. Order your prescription glasses

You may find your prescription intimidating at first, but this handy piece of card indicates the corrective measures your eyes need.

Order new glasses

Prescription eyewear and what it all means

Your eyesight has needs and your prescription tells an eye care professional what those are. FYI, you don’t need a prescription to wear a pair — non-prescription glasses or blue light lens-fitted styles are also available. And they’re all the rage.

Single vision lenses (for nearsightedness)

Single vision lenses correct a very common eye condition known as nearsightedness (or myopia), which causes distant objects to look blurry.

Single vision lenses (for farsightedness)

Single vision lenses are also used to correct farsightedness (hyperopia), a common eye condition that causes nearby objects to be blurry.

Multifocal lenses

Multifocal is a blanket term that can designate progressive, degressive, or anti-fatigue lenses, all of which can correct vision at two or more distances at once (whether near, intermediate, or far).

Reading glasses

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

Your prescription in a jiffy!

You will see numbers listed under OS (left eye) and OD (right eye) in your eye prescription. In general, the higher the number — the poorer your eyesight. A “plus” (+) sign in front of the number means you are long-sighted, and a “minus” (-) sign means you are short-sighted. These numbers represent the diopters you will need for your lens.

Our prescription form

The SPH value (sphere) indicates your nearsightedness and/or farsightedness.
The CYL and AXI values (cylinder & axis) indicate Astigmatism. CYL indicates the lens power needed to correct it, and AXI indicates the curvature of your cornea.
The PD value (Pupillary Distance) measures the distance between your pupils, and ensures the centre of the lens is in the right place.

Pupillary distance and how it’s measured

Before we get started, let’s look at what, exactly, your PD is. This term describes the distance between the centre of each pupil, which is essential in correcting your vision. Ideally, your PD is measured by an eye care professional, but our team of experts can also virtually measure your PD with accurate results.

1

Before taking your photo, be sure to have adequate lighting and avoid a busy backdrop

2

Hold your head upright, look straight ahead, and gaze directly into the camera

3

Grab a card (about the size of a credit card) and hold it horizontally below your nose — the card should touch your face but not hide your nose

4

Position yourself approximately 30 cm from your computer screen, snap the pic, send it in, and we’ll do the measuring for you

Tuesday 23 April

Tuesday 23 April

Start guide