How do I read this astigmatism prescription?
May 20, 2010 11:57 AM   Subscribe

Does this glasses prescription even make sense?

I had my optometrist fax me a prescription for eyeglasses because I would like to purchase a pair of sports googles, of this prescription. Currently, I wear this prescription over my contact lenses; it corrects the astigmatism.

However my optometrist is insane and weird (see a previous question of mine) and I would not put it past them to give me a lousy prescription so I can't just go online and fill this myself. Can you tell me if this is even legit? It doesn't seem to fit in the boxes when I go on Zenni's. Bonus points if you can quickly explain what it does mean if it is a legitimate prescription, and how I'd order myself.

PL -1.75 x 5
PL -1.25 x 15

over CL


What do you think?
posted by RajahKing to Grab Bag (4 answers total)
 
I'm not an optometrist, etc. but every prescription I've seen has been in this format.
posted by sanko at 12:02 PM on May 20, 2010


Could you take a pic of the fax, block out the identifying details, and show us that? Right off the bat, your description is lacking the OD/ OS indicators for right and left eye, and thus no sense can be made.
posted by fairytale of los angeles at 12:02 PM on May 20, 2010


Best answer: I'm not an optometrist and I don't know what "over CL" means.

However, that is a legitimate prescription to correct an astigmatism only. I have such a prescription on one eye, with the other eye very similar.

By convention, OD (right eye) is always on top, so it's not strictly necessary to list it. However, it doesn't bode well for the professionalism of the optometrist.

To put this into Zenni, you would use:

OD Spherical: Pl(ano)
OD Cylindrical: -1.75
OD Axis: 5
OS Spherical: Pl(ano)
OS Cylindrical: -1.25
OS Axis: 15
posted by saeculorum at 12:05 PM on May 20, 2010 [2 favorites]


Best answer: Also, now that I've read your previous question, the "over CL" part is "over contact lenses," and your optometrist is a jackass. Go to Costco or Wal-Mart and let them examine you for cheap to get your hands on a real scrip and real pupilary distance measurement (also missing on your description).
posted by fairytale of los angeles at 12:05 PM on May 20, 2010


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