If you notice that your eyes are going a bit fuzzy, ask your Igenics doctor for help! Once you do your Snellen eye exam, your doctor can properly diagnose your eyes and tell you whether you need basic readers or a new prescription. If you've worn eyeglasses before, the new prescription won't be in place of your old eyeglasses. They will actually act as an addition to your older prescription. Your eye doctor will give you the prescription in one of two ways - either with your distance prescription written into the prescription with an additional value for each eye (ADD); or you'll receive two prescriptions - one for distance and one for reading. If your doctor doesn't think you need a new prescription or any prescription at all, he or she may recommend getting readers from your local pharmacy with a magnifying degree like +2.00 or +0.50. The degree of magnification will always run in quarter increments and be noted as having a plus symbol (+).
Simple readers, the ones you find at the drug store, are very cheap and basic eyeglasses that come in a multitude of styles, colors, and shapes. They have identical prescriptions in each eye and are only meant for short-term usage. A lot of people buy them in bulk at their local flea market and stash them around the house for when they need them. Their prescriptions will not have a cylinder or axis. The prescriptions will be noted on the packaging somewhere and will read anywhere from +0.25 to +4.00. Since the prescriptions are the same in both eye, you won't have the option to fit the lenses to an actual prescription. They are very much a "one size fits all" kind of lens. Additionally, the pupil distance (PD) will be fit for the national average.