Ophthalmic prescription

When you visit your ophthalmologist, you usually come away with a prescription. Whether you suffer from myopia, astigmatism, presbyopia or hyperopia, this prescription is very important, as it will enable the optician to make the necessary optical adjustments to guarantee you maximum visual comfort adapted to your corrections. It will also enable you to be reimbursed by French national health insurance and your supplementary health insurance providers, if you have one. But how do you understand your prescription? Your Mymonture online optician can help you decipher and better understand this medical prescription.

UNDERSTANDING YOUR PRESCRIPTION

What you need to know

When your ophthalmologist writes you a prescription, he or she indicates two major pieces of information:

• - Why you need glasses or corrective lenses (for near vision, distance vision or both)
• - The strength of your correction

But when you take a closer look at this prescription, you may realize that it's full of numbers, mathematical signs and abbreviations. Don't panic! Your Mymonture online optician can help.

Abbreviations

OD = right eye
OG = left eye
VL = distance vision
VP = near vision
ODG = right eye and left eye
Add = addition
Sph = sphere
Cyl = cylinder
VI = intermediate vision
AV = visual acuity

Numbers

The abbreviations described above are usually accompanied by figures. Expressed in dioptres, a universal unit of power, these numbers actually indicate your degree of correction and thus the extent of your visual impairment. The closer these figures are to zero, the less severe your visual problem.

It's also important to remember that every eye is different. So it's not uncommon for the same person to have a different correction for each of their two eyes.

Each pathology has its own description

• - If you are hypermetropic (difficulty seeing up close), the number will be preceded by a "+" sign
  Example: OD = + 3.75
• - If you are myopic (difficulty seeing at a distance), the number will be preceded by the mathematical sign "-"
  Example: OG = - 1.50
• - If you have astigmatism, the first number in brackets, whether positive or negative, indicates your degree of astigmatism. Another number, expressed in degrees, accompanies the first and expresses the orientation of the astigmatism.
  Example: OG = - 2.00 (+ 0.25) 50°
  This means that your left eye is myopic and needs a correction of 2 dioptres. You also have a slight astigmatism along a 50° axis.
• - If you are presbyopic, a positive value will be accompanied by the abbreviation Add.
  Example: OD = Add + 2.00
  This means that you need a near vision correction of 2 dioptres.

A FEW EXAMPLES

Now it's your turn! You can practice deciphering different prescriptions with the examples below.

Example 1:
OD: + 3.00 ( -0.25 to 150°)
OG: + 2.50 ( -0.50 to 110°)
This prescription concerns a person with hypermetropia and astigmatism.

Example 2:
Distance vision: OD: + 0.25
OG: + 0.25
Near vision: OD: Add + 1.50
OG: Add + 1.50
This prescription was written for a person with hypermetropia and presbyopia.

Example 3:
Distance vision: OD: + 6.25 ( -1.00 to 110°)
OG: + 5.75 ( -0.50 to 70°)
Near vision: OD: Add 2.50
OG: Add 2.50
This prescription was written for a person with astigmatism, presbyopia and hypermetropia.

DO YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS?

Do not hesitate to contact our professional opticians from Monday to Saturday, from 10H00 to 19H00:

• - By telephone on 03 21 91 40 40
• - By e-mail at contact@mymonture.com
• - By post at 13 rue Montjoie - 62280 SAINT MARTIN BOULOGNE