How to Read Your Eyeglasses Prescription

The prescription your optometrist writes for your eyeglasses might be confusing, but it tells you a lot about your vision. Here's how to make sense of the symbols you see.You’ve probably never really looked at this piece of paper before. It’s got a bunch of numbers, abbreviations, and scribbles on it. It’s your eyeglass prescription, and it can literally help you see the world in a whole new way.Here’s a breakdown of your prescription, including what all those confusing terms mean.Has it been a while since your last eye exam? Now’s the time to book an appointment! OD, OS, and OUSee the letters OD and OS? They’re Latin terms for your right eye and left eye. If you see OU on the prescription, that refers to both of your eyes.SPH (Sphere)Now take a look at SPH, which stands for sphere. The numbers in this column tell you how well you see objects up close and far away in each eye. The minus sign represents nearsightedness, and the plus sign means farsightedness. Here’s an example: if you s...