Eye prescription rapidly changes when you are at age below 21 years old. There are abbreviated terms that are used in your prescriptions such as OD, OS, OU, CYL, and SPH. The following abbreviations come with numerical values with plus and minus signs.
OD means oculus dextrus that refers to your right eye while OS means oculus sinister that refers to your left eye. OU means oculus unitas that refers to both eyes. The following abbreviations are not usually used anymore because they use LE (left eye) or RE (right eye).
SPH or S refers to the sphere that can indicate the degree of nearsightedness and farsightedness. If it is a minus sign, it refers to the degree of your nearsightedness. If it is a plus sign, it refers to the degree of your farsightedness.
CYL or C refers to the lens power for astigmatism. The higher CYL is, the more astigmatism you have. Thicker lenses can be recommended if you have severe astigmatism because it can result in blurry and distorted eyesight.
These are the additional terms that you can see in your prescription:
- DV or distance vision
- NV or near vision
- ADD or additional power for multifocal and bifocal lenses for presbyopia
- PRISM or the prismatic power to correct eye alignment issues
The Difference Between an Eyeglass and Contact Lens Prescription
Many people think that eyeglass and contact lens prescription are similar but they are not. There is information included in contact lens prescription because the lenses are on the surface of the eye while eyeglasses have a distance of 10 to 12 millimeters (mm) from the eye surface.
A 20/20 vision refers to eyesight that can read with a distance of 20 feet away. It is possible to restore a 20/20 vision. It is a common occurrence that your eye prescription changes or fluctuates.
Factors That Contributes to the Often Change of Eye Prescription
Aging is the main reason why there are eye complications such as macular degeneration, cataracts, diabetes, and presbyopia.
It is important to know that eyes grow in our youth and there will be a change in the refractive error of the eye.
The eye prescription keeps on changing which means it is only natural and common to have new glasses. Seek help from an eye doctor if you have experienced changes in eye prescription and to be able to detect eye issues that can be addressed early.
