Hi, Could someone help me interpret a contact RX. I would really like to know what the numbers on the back of my lens case mean and how it relates to my correction. THanks in advance.
ro: 7.60
sph: -9.00 / 1.75
or: 9.90
Hi, Could someone help me interpret a contact RX. I would really like to know what the numbers on the back of my lens case mean and how it relates to my correction. THanks in advance.
ro: 7.60
sph: -9.00 / 1.75
or: 9.90
Hey, Ksquared!
Need more info. Are the lenses in a box or vial? Are they hard or soft? Is this for 1 eye or both? Are lenses for Distance vision or a Bifocal? Is there a company or a manufacturer's name?
I am always amazed when a patient wants to know what the numbers mean, or "what did you do to my lenses in the back". When I tell them they have no more of a clue than they did before I answered. The numbers mean: What the doctor precribed for the optician to read an fill. The mean nothing to a lay person.
Chip
P.S. You are very nearsighted and have some astigmatism.
That's a meaningful reply, isn't it? Even to a lay person?Originally Posted by chip anderson
Are you sure this isn't a multifocal RX? Seeing as how there's no axis?
NO, but I am sure they are very nearsighted. And I suspect it is an "off the box" CL Rx.
[QUOTE=chip anderson]I am always amazed when a patient wants to know what the numbers mean, or "what did you do to my lenses in the back". When I tell them they have no more of a clue than they did before I answered. The numbers mean: What the doctor precribed for the optician to read an fill. The mean nothing to a lay person.
[QUOTE]
Chip,
What the problem with showing a little interest in what a Doctor is prescribing or the Optician is filling. Whether I have a service or a trades person in my house I watch them, because I do have a interest in what they are doing, even though in their eyes I a just a layman. Cut the guy some slack for showing some interest in his eyes.
Hi,
The information is from the packing a set of my RGP contacts came in. THe packaging was not a normal lens case. The contacts are held suspended inside a pull out case. THese are the most interesting contacts I've ever seen and the best vision near. middle and far. However the vision was quite differant (don't know how to explain it) and I couldn't wear them all day. I've always been curious about them.
The back of the package has:
Presbylite II
Boston XO iceblue
ro:7.60 (R eye) ro: 7.65 (L eye)
sph: -9.00/1.75 sph: 10.75/1.75
oe:9.90 oe:9.70
THe front of the package has the same info but written differantly and what is propably an inventory code of some kind (1668414 and 1668415, the date and Lensgold)
I'm just trying to learn more so I can make the right choices when it comes to my glasses and contacts. No questions asked. If I ran into problems I chaulked it up to my "bad" eyes and went with what I was given. Some of which worked and some of which didn't. I would really like to find the best solution for my vision correction. I thought if I knew more, this would help me make good decisions.
Looks like you are wearing an RGP bifocal 7.60 and 7.65 is the base curve( radius of curvature of the back surface of the lens
-9.00 and -10.75 is the amount of your nearsightedness As Chip said, "very nearsighted"
+1.75 is the bifocal power for near vision
9.90 and 9.70 diameter of the lens
Good Luck
:cheers: Life is too short to drink cheap beer.
THank-you very much. More quesitons.
"-9.00 and -10.75 is the amount of your nearsightedness As Chip said, "very nearsighted"
Question: Any explaination for why my glasses prescription has typically been -12.50 and -13.75?
"9.90 and 9.70 diameter of the lens"
Question: What does the diameter of the lens do.
Questions: It took several pairs to get these centered. what do you adjust to get the contacts to sit differantly on your eye.
QUestion: Is there any indication of astigmatism indicated by my prescription in either eye.
The effective power of a lens depends on its distance from your eye. The effective power of your contacts is the same as your glasses.
That's its size - they're about 10mm across."9.90 and 9.70 diameter of the lens"
Question: What does the diameter of the lens do.
The curves and diameters affect the "fitting".Questions: It took several pairs to get these centered. what do you adjust to get the contacts to sit differantly on your eye.
Your eyeglass Rx is a better indicator of this. If it's just something like "-12.50" (as opposed to "-12.50 -1.25 90"), then you have no correction for astigmatism.QUestion: Is there any indication of astigmatism indicated by my prescription in either eye.
THank-you very much.
In regards to:Your eyeglass Rx is a better indicator of this. If it's just something like "-12.50" (as opposed to "-12.50 -1.25 90"), then you have no correction for astigmatism.
My glasses RX is:
R -12.50 cylinder +050 axis 160.
L -13.75 cylinder +050 Axis 036
Based on the information above, can you help me unstertand how much of an astigmatism I have.
" a bicycle can't stand on it's own because it's too tired."
Last edited by ksquared; 02-26-2005 at 11:02 AM.
Almost none - the increments of prescription powers are 0.25 diopters - so a 0.25 cylinder is the least normally written. You've only got twice the minimum, but even that is diminished in significance by virtue of your very strong correction for nearsightedness. Put it this way: if your glasses were made without correction for astigmatism (at -12.25 and -13.50), you probably wouldn't notice the difference.
And I bet your rigid contacts eliminate it completely, when you're wearing them.
Thank you very much Mr. Shanbaum! Those little numbers on all my RXs are starting to make a little sence.
I think I understand your answer regarding how much astigmatism I have by looking at my RX but let me just rephrase it. If you have astigmatism, you add diopters to the RX based on the amount that you have. In my case it changed my RX from –12.00 to –12.50. The RX included the cylinder reading so the person who fills your RX knows how many diopters were due to astigmatism. Since I’m so near-sighted a .50 isn’t probably enough to make much difference so the lenses could probably be made without any astigmatism adjustment. Whether the lens were made to accommodate it or not, I probably wouldn’t notice.
Also what does the axis measurement mean. This seems to change with every RX and I'm very curiuos about what it is.
Axis is a group of evil countries in WWII.
Actually it refers to the clock degrees (0-90) as to where your astigmatism is opposite. 0 being to the patient's right, 90 being straight up and down, 180 being to the patient's left. Axis is stated as the sphere correction (first number) the cylinder (second number) will be 90 degrees opposed to the sphere.
Now what possible difference did it make in how your Rx is filled whether you know this or not. It is only important that your doctor and the optician know.
Chipo:cheers:
Well, Chip explained it, but since you may not understand what "where your astigmatism is opposite" means, perhaps I should give it a try.
If you don't already know, correcting for astigmatism requires lenses to have two powers - that's what the "sphere" and "cylinder" numbers refer to. In your case, your right eye needs a spectacle lens with powers of -12.00 and -12.50. Writing the second power in incremental form is simply the convention (your lens could be described as -12.00 -0.50 70 or -12.50 +0.50 160). The two powers are invariably positioned at right angles to one another. "Axis" refers to the rotational position of the "sphere" power. If you look at the front of your spectacles, zero degrees is at 3 o'clock, and the increments proceed counter-clockwise, as Chip described.
You just keep on asking questions, and don't worry about Chip - I'm not sure why he places such a premium on folks not knowing anything they don't absolutely have to...
Chip, have you ever had a pharmacy rx filled with a different looking medication than what you were expecting, and you asked the pharmacist, "are you sure this is right?" and had the doc say, "yes, you are being given the generic," or "the drug company changed the XYZ drug color/size/whatever and this will do the same thing that your other pills did," blah blah blah.....??
I think that this is the case... our consumer, ksquared, is just wanting to make sure he/she is getting the right rx for his/her eyes and is concerned that the packaging looks different. I think ksquared is to be commended for trying to maintain some control over his/her contacts purchase. Now, maybe I got the wrong impression, but that's my impression, and if ksquared came into my store, I would try to be as helpful in educating this person as I could, given the time and their interest. As to the questions about the way the rx is written, and how to interpret those numbers, there are lots of resources ksquared can look up, at the library and online. Maybe ksquared is interested in an optical future! With that rx, it would be nice to have an employee discount, don't you think? ;)
"The Good Lord gave us mountains so we could learn how to climb". ~ Lonestar
it is important (to me)
THanks Chip for the explaination. You are right, it won't probably make a differance in how my RX is filled as one would "hope" the lens maker will make the lens according to my RX. And that the RX was correct to begin with. But I really don't see a problem with being a little more educated plus I just happen to be a curious person.
I hate to tell you this but not all optomitrists and optitions (independants or chain stores) are equelly skilled. Nor are some of them even helpfull. If I understand what these numbers mean, I think it will help me seperate the "wheat" from the "chaft". At the very least I can maybe understand why one pair of glasses/contacts can be so much differant than the previous pair (differant but not always better). I have had some bad experiences in the past. But I hope being a little more educated will beneifit both patient and doctor going forward.
If this forum is for professionals only, that's OK, just let me know. I hope not though, as I've gotten a lot of help here and learned quite a bit.
What does it mean?
Ksquared, If the person who was taking care of you, cared enough to sell you the Contacts, I'm sure they would also care enough to take the time to explain what the numbers mean?, Along with the Optician, People who feel that you shouldn't care about things are also the ones that keep you coming back for remakes and wasted energy, simply because they didn't take the time to want to explain things to you. and i'm sure wanted to rush you out.
I salute you,
:cheers: For taking an interest in wanting to know what you are getting?.
what do these numbers mean
I'll need a few hours to digest the new info (Shanbaum's explaination) so will probably be back tomrrow to check my understanding. In the meantime, thank you Shanbaum, JennyP and Tone2020 for your most kind comments. That was very nice of you. CHeers.
Ksquared:
It's not that this is for professionals only. It's that with all this information you still don't know any more than you did before. Unless you have instruments to measure the strength of the lenses, the pupillary centers or a microscope to check the fit of your contact and the surface of the eye. A retina scope to check the Rx while wearing the lenses. And the skills/training and some how the ability to check a contact lens fit on your own eye (very near impossible) this has just been a written exercise of little benefit to anyone.
Much like someone with no mechanical skills or knowledge getting in the service bay an worrying the poor mechanic (notice I said mechanic not technician) to death while he tries to fix the car. The customer still won't have a clue if the job was done right unless the car doesn't function properly later.
That's obviously false. What you might correctly say is that Ksquared has gained little or no information that will be of much practical use to him (or her, as the case may be) - which is not worth saying, and which is, at the very least, needlessly patronizing.
A lot of people are just curious. For example, I wonder what motivates you to say such things, even though it's of little practical use to me. Perhaps, if I were to understand that, my overall understanding of humanity would scootch up a scoche (just trying my Mississippian - how'd I do?). But even if it wouldn't, I'd still wonder.
So -12.00 -0.50 0 and -12.00 -0.50 180 are exactly the same? If the Sphere is 0 then the Axis is automatically (/by default) also 0 since it doesn't matter if you write Axis as 0, 50, 80, 140, etc. when Sphere is 0? And there is no real need for Axis to ever have a value above 90 as the prescription can be rewritten to ensure Axis is between 0 and <90 ?
THanks GCC but this thread is really quite old. I'm well beyond "what do the numbers mean", not only do I know what they mean but I can map and measure the power of the lens themselves, etc and still learning something new everyday.
When I joined this forum last year I was just another one of those “annoying” consumers looking for some help. But although I’m still probably annoying, I no longer consider myself to be just a consumer. I find the vision process most fasinating and as with most things, if you want a job done right you'll have to do it yourself which is where I am now. I've taken all the CE copurces I could find (paid and unpaid) and plan to get some hands on exspereince this summer.
Debt Crisis 2011: All the ostensible nobility in the world notwithstanding, we have run out of other people's money to spend.
To what end, Ksquared?
No, that's pretty much all wrong, up to the end. "-12.00 -0.50 0" would simply be unconventional (as would any axis greater than 180); the convention is to write "-12.00 -0.50 180" - even though either 0 or 180 could only be interpreted as a horizontal rotational orientation of the -12.00 power in this example.
If the cylinder is zero, the axis is normally either not specified at all (as indeed, the cylinder may not be), or left at zero. A zero cylinder with a non-zero axis would suggest that the Rx has been incorrectly written.
I suppose it's true that Rx's can always be written such that cylinder axis is between zero and 90, through transposition; that is, because all compound Rx's can be written in plus or minus cylinder form, they can be manipulated to produce this result. For example, the "-12.00 -0.50 180" can be written as "-12.50 +0.50 90".
But there's no particular point in constraining axis in that fashion, and the modern convention is overwhelmingly in favor of minus cylinder form - since that's the way virtually all lenses are fabricated.
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