I got this prescription at an eye-checking machine. I feel like my left eye is really bad and doesn’t see well in the distance. What do the results mean exactly?
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[Prescription](https://i.imgur.com/f7Vr7l5.jpg)
In: 6
Firstly a prescription won’t tell you your visual acuity (how well you can see), you could have someone with no prescription (Rx) but with some degenerative eye condition that makes them sight impaired.
But, if you assume the eye is healthy based on your Rx you are a very tiny bit myopic (short sighted) with a tiny bit of astigmatism.
If you’re struggling it might be worthwhile getting specs, age is a factor here, if you’re young and symptom free then you won’t need specs, if you’re over 45 these autorefractor results won’t detail if you need specs for close-up or not.
If you struggle with close work and you’re 45+, you may be presbyopic and should have a full sight test to determine your full visual needs.
Firstly a prescription won’t tell you your visual acuity (how well you can see), you could have someone with no prescription (Rx) but with some degenerative eye condition that makes them sight impaired.
But, if you assume the eye is healthy based on your Rx you are a very tiny bit myopic (short sighted) with a tiny bit of astigmatism.
If you’re struggling it might be worthwhile getting specs, age is a factor here, if you’re young and symptom free then you won’t need specs, if you’re over 45 these autorefractor results won’t detail if you need specs for close-up or not.
If you struggle with close work and you’re 45+, you may be presbyopic and should have a full sight test to determine your full visual needs.
Negative numbers mean nearsighted while positive numbers mean farsighted. The numbers themselves are called the “diopter”, which is the measure of the optical power of a lens. So, a 1.50 diopter lens has greater optical power than a 1.00 diopter lens. The numbers on your sheet indicate that you are slightly nearsighted, which explains your difficulty seeing things further away.
Firstly a prescription won’t tell you your visual acuity (how well you can see), you could have someone with no prescription (Rx) but with some degenerative eye condition that makes them sight impaired.
But, if you assume the eye is healthy based on your Rx you are a very tiny bit myopic (short sighted) with a tiny bit of astigmatism.
If you’re struggling it might be worthwhile getting specs, age is a factor here, if you’re young and symptom free then you won’t need specs, if you’re over 45 these autorefractor results won’t detail if you need specs for close-up or not.
If you struggle with close work and you’re 45+, you may be presbyopic and should have a full sight test to determine your full visual needs.
Negative numbers mean nearsighted while positive numbers mean farsighted. The numbers themselves are called the “diopter”, which is the measure of the optical power of a lens. So, a 1.50 diopter lens has greater optical power than a 1.00 diopter lens. The numbers on your sheet indicate that you are slightly nearsighted, which explains your difficulty seeing things further away.
Negative numbers mean nearsighted while positive numbers mean farsighted. The numbers themselves are called the “diopter”, which is the measure of the optical power of a lens. So, a 1.50 diopter lens has greater optical power than a 1.00 diopter lens. The numbers on your sheet indicate that you are slightly nearsighted, which explains your difficulty seeing things further away.
On a simple lense, each face is cut as the surface of a sphere. With “0” spherical correction, the curvature of the inner face and the curvature of the outer face are equal; the lens is the same thickness throughout. It’s window glass.
With farsighted (+sph values) the inner face is cut to a larger sphere than the outer face. The middle of the lens will be thicker than the edge of the lens.
With nearsightedness, (-sph values), the inner face is cut to a smaller sphere than the outer face. The lens is thin in the middle, and thick on the edges.
SPH refers to the spherical correction the lens is to provide.
Next, CYL and Axis
A lens need not be spherical. It could have a greater curve in one direction than another. The lenses could be cut so that instead of the faces each being the surface of a sphere, they are instead the surface of an ellipsoid. Something like a football.
A “cyl” correction means the lens has a different curve in one direction than the other; it is “squished”. The “axis” direction tells you the orientation of the “squish”: a 0 correction would be a football held upright; a 90 correction would be for a football horizontal, laying on the ground.
This machine conducted 4 tests on each eye, and reported all 8 tests.
Finally, PD is “pupillary distance” – they need to grind the lenses so that when they are fixed to the frames, each one will be centered over your eye.
Your prescription is for a very minor spherical correction in each eye to fix nearsightedness, and a very minor cylinder correction in each eye to fix astigmatism.
On a simple lense, each face is cut as the surface of a sphere. With “0” spherical correction, the curvature of the inner face and the curvature of the outer face are equal; the lens is the same thickness throughout. It’s window glass.
With farsighted (+sph values) the inner face is cut to a larger sphere than the outer face. The middle of the lens will be thicker than the edge of the lens.
With nearsightedness, (-sph values), the inner face is cut to a smaller sphere than the outer face. The lens is thin in the middle, and thick on the edges.
SPH refers to the spherical correction the lens is to provide.
Next, CYL and Axis
A lens need not be spherical. It could have a greater curve in one direction than another. The lenses could be cut so that instead of the faces each being the surface of a sphere, they are instead the surface of an ellipsoid. Something like a football.
A “cyl” correction means the lens has a different curve in one direction than the other; it is “squished”. The “axis” direction tells you the orientation of the “squish”: a 0 correction would be a football held upright; a 90 correction would be for a football horizontal, laying on the ground.
This machine conducted 4 tests on each eye, and reported all 8 tests.
Finally, PD is “pupillary distance” – they need to grind the lenses so that when they are fixed to the frames, each one will be centered over your eye.
Your prescription is for a very minor spherical correction in each eye to fix nearsightedness, and a very minor cylinder correction in each eye to fix astigmatism.
On a simple lense, each face is cut as the surface of a sphere. With “0” spherical correction, the curvature of the inner face and the curvature of the outer face are equal; the lens is the same thickness throughout. It’s window glass.
With farsighted (+sph values) the inner face is cut to a larger sphere than the outer face. The middle of the lens will be thicker than the edge of the lens.
With nearsightedness, (-sph values), the inner face is cut to a smaller sphere than the outer face. The lens is thin in the middle, and thick on the edges.
SPH refers to the spherical correction the lens is to provide.
Next, CYL and Axis
A lens need not be spherical. It could have a greater curve in one direction than another. The lenses could be cut so that instead of the faces each being the surface of a sphere, they are instead the surface of an ellipsoid. Something like a football.
A “cyl” correction means the lens has a different curve in one direction than the other; it is “squished”. The “axis” direction tells you the orientation of the “squish”: a 0 correction would be a football held upright; a 90 correction would be for a football horizontal, laying on the ground.
This machine conducted 4 tests on each eye, and reported all 8 tests.
Finally, PD is “pupillary distance” – they need to grind the lenses so that when they are fixed to the frames, each one will be centered over your eye.
Your prescription is for a very minor spherical correction in each eye to fix nearsightedness, and a very minor cylinder correction in each eye to fix astigmatism.
The good news is, while you have about -0.25 diopter myopia, I have been living a fine life for 40 years with more than -7.00 diopters myopia. So don’t fret.
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