Have you ever wondered what the numbers in your prescription really mean, and how these relates to your eyewear options? Well look no further, our in house Opticians are here to help!

Here's an example prescription:

	SPH	CYL	AXIS	PRISM	ADD
Right	+1.00	+1.25	45		+2.25
Left	+1.25	+0.75	64		+2.25

 

Sphere (SPH)

Your Sphere tells us if you are short sighted or long-sighted. If your prescription is '+' then you are long-sighted, struggling most with close up work. If your prescription is '-', you are short-sighted and your distance vision is more tricky.

Cylinder (CYL)

If you have a cylinder in your prescription (most of us do!) this means that you have an astigmatism. The cornea of your eye is more of a rugby ball shape than perfectly spherical so different powers are needed to correct the uneven curves.

Axis

The axis tells us the angle your cylinder correction needs to sit at when we fit your lenses in to your frames to correct your astigmatism.

Near Add (or Near Prescription)

You will only have a reading add if you are "presbyopic" and need different prescriptions to see in the distance and at near. Usually when an add is required it is because the muscles in the eye can no longer adjust the shape of the lens in your eye to focus from far to near.

Some opticians will choose to write the full reading prescription underneath the distance prescription rather than the reading add. To find the near prescription, the reading add is combined with the sphere and the cylinder and axis values remain as they are.

Prism

If you have a muscle imbalance in your eyes, prism can be used to correct the direction of your gaze and prevent double vision. Prism can appear as base In, Out, Up or Down on your prescription.

What does this mean in terms of my eyewear options? 

Ordering in a Showroom

Prescription Range

You can purchase prescription glasses or sunglasses in one of our showrooms provided that your prescription is within the power ranges below:

• Sphere: Up to ­-15.00/+8.00
• Cylinder: Up to +/-6.00
• Combined (sphere + cylinder): Up to ­-15.00/+8.00
• Prism: Up to ­3.00 in each eye

Lens Types

From our showrooms you can order anything from our full lens portfolio depending on your prescription needs: Single Vision, Varifocal and Occupational lenses. . .

Single Vision

If you don’t have an add or a near prescription and you can see at all distances with one pair of glasses then single vision lenses are all you need!

Our price of £85 includes your frames, lenses and antireflective coating as well as lens thinning for higher prescriptions!

But I do have a near add. . .

You can still choose to wear single vision glasses if you have an add, but you will need to swap between a couple of pairs to allow you to focus at different distances. You could have single vision glasses made up to your distance prescription for driving, walking around and going to the cinema; reading glasses for knitting, reading a book or a menu and looking at your mobile phone and also if you like, intermediate glasses for in-between tasks such as working at your computer.

Multifocal lenses - Varifocals

If you can make it to our showroom you can also purchase varifocal lenses from us! These lenses have your distance prescription set at the top of the lens and gradually change to your reading prescription at the bottom. You can use varifocals for all tasks, meaning you can keep the same pair of glasses on all day and there is no more swapping between multiple pairs. We charge an upgrade cost of £100 for these lenses on top of our standard price of £85, bringing the total for the glasses to £185.

Multifocal lenses - Occupationals

Occupational lenses are a slightly more specialised design. These have your full reading prescription at the bottom of the lens and the prescription gradually reduces as gaze moves up the lens to an intermediate prescription, allowing you to read and use your computer with one pair of glasses but not to see in the distance. These lenses give wider fields of view than a varifocal allow you to sit with a more natural head position so are ideal for people have long periods on a computer, have a particularly large screen or work with large paper documents such as architectural drawings which may be held a little further away. We charge an upgrade cost of £100 for these lenses on top of our standard price of £85, bringing the total for the glasses to £185.

Lens coatings and thinning

Our simple pricing structure means there are no hidden costs with IOLLA. Our price of £85 (add £100 for multifocal lenses) includes your frames and lenses with an antireflective coating.

At IOLLA we also thin down lenses at no extra charge all the way up to a 1.74 index for higher prescriptions. For each individual order, our experienced workshop team will decide on the best level of thinning to use based on the prescription, PD and frame choice.

Ordering Online 

Prescription Range

You can purchase prescription glasses or sunglasses online from IOLLA provided that you do not have prism in your prescription and that it is within the power ranges below:

• Sphere: Up to ­10.00/+6.00
• Cylinder: Up to 4.00
• Combined (sphere + cyl): Up to ­10.00/+6.00

Lens Types

We only sell Single Vision lenses from our online store. If you are interested in purchasing multifocal (varifocal) lenses from IOLLA, we can sell these from our showroom so pop in to see us!

Single Vision

If you don’t have an add or a near prescription and you can see at all distances with one pair of glasses then single vision lenses are all you need!

Our price of £85 includes your frames, lenses and antireflective coating as well as lens thinning for higher prescriptions!

But I do have a near add . . .

You can wear single vision glasses if you have an add, you will just need to swap between multiple pairs to allow you to focus at different distances.

Single Vision - Distance

Single vision glasses made up to your distance prescription will allow you to see off in the distance but not up-close. You could use these for driving, walking around and going to the cinema.

Single Vision - Near

Prescription reading glasses can be used for example to knit, read a book or a menu or browsing your mobile phone. These will make close objects clear and sharp but you will not be able to see clearly in the distance with these on.

If you like, is is also an option to have a pair of single vision intermediate glasses made up for in-between tasks such as working at your computer.

Lens coatings and thinning 

Our simple pricing structure means there are no hidden costs with IOLLA. Our price of £85 (add £100 for multifocal lenses) includes your frames and lenses with an antireflective coating.

At IOLLA we also thin down lenses at no extra charge all the way up to a 1.74 index for higher prescriptions. For each individual order, our experienced workshop team will decide on the best level of thinning to use based on the prescription, PD and frame choice.

 

If you need any help or advice understanding the best options to correct your vision, just contact our optically trained customer support team. We are here to help!