Understanding how to read prescription glasses is crucial! Although you may know if you are nearsighted, farsighted, or astigmatic, determining from a prescription is completely another matter.

If you have completed an ophthalmic examination and find that your eye needs have changed, you need to order a new prescription as soon as possible. That's where your optometrist or ophthalmologist issued the new prescription. Most glasses online retailers require you to read a prescription and enter it into your purchase order, but if you don't know how to read a prescription, the process can become very complex. Learn how to read eyewear prescriptions to order new glasses as soon as possible.

The numbers on the prescription for glasses accurately describe the cutting method for the lenses. Keep the prescription up-to-date so that these numbers accurately reflect your visual needs. Usually, you will see several abbreviations and words to mark all important data in the prescription.

OD and OS Eye, OD is the Latin abbreviation for oculus dexter, representing the right eye. OS is the abbreviation for Latin oculus sinister, representing the left eye. You often see this term on prescription glasses. If you have astigmatism, there will be a number in the "cylinder" column of the prescription indicating the number of lenses required to correct astigmatism. When correcting astigmatism, there will also be a number in the "axis" column.