Reading Glasses Prescription Strength Explained

Millions of people across the world wear glasses, as they help improve people’s eyesight and accomplish everyday tasks. One common type of eyewear is reading glasses, which help people who struggle to see nearby objects. These glasses come in a variety of strengths. To help you better understand them, here’s a look at prescription strengths for reading glasses.

The Meaning of Positive and Negative

A prescription is a measurement of your eyes’ strength. If you ever receive one, the first thing you should check to find the right glasses is if the number is positive or negative. A positive number indicates that the person needs glasses that help with farsightedness. In contrast, a negative number means the person is nearsighted.

Diopters Represent the Strength

The next thing you’ll note is the number itself, which represents how many diopters the prescription strength is. A smaller number means you need less power in your glasses to correct your vision. The positive and negative don’t make a difference to the diopter value—just the size of the number after the positive or negative.

Do You Need Reading Glasses or Prescription Glasses?

When it comes to understanding the strength of a pair of glasses, this measuring system works for both prescription and reading glasses. In the end, both options correct your vision. However, reading glasses are normally cheaper as producers make them for home use and not for everyday vision problems. You don’t need a prescription to get them, so you can easily get a pair of vintage reading glasses whenever you want.

Now that you understand a bit more about the prescription strength of reading glasses and other eyewear, you can best choose the one that will benefit you. Glasses are an essential part of many people’s lives, which is why you should know what a prescription means when you get one.