Choosing the right lens for your prescription

Choosing the best lenses for your prescription can be very tricky. To help you decide the best, here are some steps to follow:

  1. Understand your prescription
  2. Understand the lens material
  3. Choose an extra lens coating

With so many variations in coatings and lenses, one can get confused easily. It is not an easy task to choose the right lenses for your glasses. Remember to decide wisely as it is essential to be content and comfortable with your eyewear. Let’s go step by step to ease your process of choosing the perfect lens.

What lens is best for my prescription?

The table below will help you to pick up the right lenses for yourself by giving an overview of which lens materials are best suited to which prescription.

PrescriptionLens materialRefractive indexAbbe Value
 +/-2.00 to +/-8.00High-index plastics1.60 to 1.6736 (1.60) 32 (1.67)
plano to +/-6.00Polycarbonate1.58630
plano to +/-6.00Trivex1.5445
plano to +/-2.00               CR-39 Plastic lens1.49858

It is crucial to understand the nature of your prescription and each lens material before you decide on which lenses and frame styles are best suited to you. The more you know, the informed you’ll be to make a decision. You can also check the glasses lens options for your vision types. To help you, we have outlined the basics.

Understand your prescription

Firstly, it is important to understand your prescription. In general, the further away the number is from zero (in your prescription), the worse your eyesight and the higher your prescription is (meaning more vision correction required). The following are basic terminologies used in prescriptions:

  • D (Dioptre) – unit to measure the amount of lens power/correction
  • Plano – Plano, Infinity (∞) or 0.00 => zero power (no power or visual correction required)
  • (+) – indicates long/far-sightedness or hyperopia
  • (-) – indicates short/near-sightedness or myopia
  • SPH (sphere) – lens power required to correct the degree of long (+) or short (-) sightedness
  • CYL (cylinder) – the amount of lens power for astigmatism
  • AXIS – angle (in degrees) between the two meridians of an astigmatic eye
  • ADD – stands for addition; the additional correction you need for reading; used in varifocal, bifocal or reading glasses.
  • PD – pupil distance
  • OD – oculus dexter or right eye
  • OS – oculus sinister or left eye
  • Abbe value or V number – the degree to which white, visible light is dispersed or separated into its colour components when passing through lenses.

High V number – low dispersion

Low V number – high dispersion

Lens materials – features and benefits

Listed below are the types of lenses available:

Glass lenses

  • They offer excellent clarity, but at the same time, these lenses are very heavy and can break easily.
  • Easily breakable is a risk factor for the eyes; hence they are not a common choice.

Plastic lenses

  • They are made of a plastic polymer called CR-39.
  • It is a lightweight lens, cost-friendly with superior optical performance.

Polycarbonate lenses

  • 20 to 25% thinner than plastic lenses.
  • A popular choice for children, safety and sports prescription glasses because of their high impact resistance nature.
  • Blocks 100% UVA and UVB rays.

Trivex lenses

  • Lightest lens material available.
  • High impact resistance – great choice for safety glasses, sports and children.
  • Offers 100% UVA and UVB protection .

High-index plastic lenses

  • Thinner and lighter than standard and plastic lenses.
  • Block 100% UVA and UVB rays
  • 20% thinner & lighter than normal lenses (1.6)
  • 35% thinner and lighter than normal lenses (1.67)

Which coating is best for lenses?

Getting a lens coating will help to enhance your vision and lens performance. There are a range of different lens coatings, if you’re wondering which would suit you best, take a look at our guide to lens coatings.

For the best quality and most affordable glasses around, order online at Feel Good Contacts. Our broad range of styles range from classic to more contemporary designs, across many designer brands. You can also invest in quality without the price tag with our very own Feel Good Collection.

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Head Honcho, Editor in Chief and writer here on VENTS. I don't like walking on the beach, but I love playing the guitar and geeking out about music. I am also a movie maniac and 6 hours sleeper.

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