Can a glasses prescription be the same as contact lens prescription?

[OriginofSpecies]

I'm very confused!

I went to a new optician recently to have a normal sight test and a contact lens aftercare appointment. I have worn contact lenses for several years + glasses (latest pair are a few years old now).

When I left the opticians, I realised that I had only been given one prescription. This matched the strength of the contact lenses which I wear.

It is my understanding that a glasses prescription is different to a contact lens prescription, to account for the distance that glasses are worn from the eyes.

However, when I popped back to the optician and explained that I had what I thought was my contact lens prescription, but not the glasses one, I was given a new prescription which matches the first one! I did say as he was writing it out that it's the same (wondering if he was writing out the one I already had again), but he just commented they are different because of the distance from the eyes for glasses!??

So now I'm really confused. Was I only given one prescription originally because my glasses and contact lens prescriptions are the same?? Or have I been given two copies of my contact lens prescription and need to go back again??

For info, my prescription is -2.5 in one eye and -1.5 in the other.

Yes I wear contact lenses daily but have three pairs of glasses too and they are all the same prescription (bar one which is my old prescription simply because I haven’t replaced) :)

Mine have always been different, as you say due to distance from eye. Mine are usually .5 difference (but my eyes are -7 ish)

Mine are different - about 0.5 in it (I’m -8.50 in contacts, glasses are about -9 something).

I think they should be different, I'm guessing he gave you the wrong one to start with.

My contacts and my glasses are the same. I've never heard this before but I'll be asking when I'm next at the optician.

The CL prescription is usually smaller than the specs prescription - the fact that they sit on your eye rather than a cm or so away makes the difference. Used to work for an opticians plus short sighted speccy git my whole life! My specs are -10 and my CLs are -8. I guess the gap is smaller for lower prescriptions!

@SailorJerry13 out of interest, what is your prescription?

I'm wondering whether as my prescription is relatively low, that it's the same. I hadn't realised that any difference in the two is only about 0.5.

You should have two separate prescriptions - neither contact or glasses scrips have enough info to be able to specify the other.

My glasses one is higher, 5.5 and 7, my lenses are 5.5 and 5.75 (which is also a varifocal lense).

Minus that is !

Yes, if you have a lower prescription the spectacle Rx can match the contact lens Rx, but it doesn't always...it depends on how the prescription is written and sometimes how much astigmatism you have and also the type of contact lens you wear. Thicker contact lenses can mask some astigmatic prescription and if you have torics or varifocal lenses your contact lens prescription may be very different to your glasses one.

A normal eye examination would not usually give you a prescription to get contact lenses though. You'd need to have a contact lens assessment or aftercare for that.

I've just seen that you've got a new optician, so if you came to me I'd do a full eye exam and then give you a copy of your glasses prescription.

I'd then get you to come back in wearing your contact lenses so that I could assess the fit and then check with lenses over the top of our contacts to ascertain what prescription you need.

Thanks all! I think I'm going to have to pop back again just to sort it out in my head.

The two prescriptions attached. Top one is the first one I was given.

That's your spex prescription. Did you have contacts in at any time during the test? If not you've not had your CL prescription checked.

@underneaththeash

I had a double appointment. I arrived wearing my contacts for the aftercare appointment, and once that was complete the optician carried out the eye exam.

Should it have been done the other way around? Whenever I've had contact lens aftercare + sight test, I've arrived wearing my contacts.

Out of interest, what's the extra squiggle for the right eye cylinder on the second prescription?

@sleepwhenimred x-post. See above.

Squiggle looks like DS (diopters sphere, which just means there’s no astigmatism in that eye).

That’s not a contact lens prescription just a glasses one. A contact lens needs a base curve and diameter and hopefully a lens brand.
I don’t think you’ve had both test done.

Incidentally, how much did you pay? I have my own business with children as well as doing some locum work and a full basic eye exam plus lens aftercare in most of my locum jobs would be around £75.

Some Optometrists don’t do contact lenses either, the lens market moves very quickly and as a registered profession we’re told to not dabble in things that we’re not 100% comfortable with and to refer to colleagues with more knowledge.

@underneaththeash

That's really interesting. The optician said that my contact lenses were fine. I had previously got them from Boots via their contact lens scheme, but wanted to save money by buying them online + pay for annual aftercare at the optician (not Boots).

I did wonder about the base curve and diameter, but I took that information from my previous lot of lenses when I ordered online.

It cost me £40 for the contact lens appointment and £25 for the eye exam.

You shouldn't wear contacts before a "glasses" sight test. And they should be different because it's to do with the distance the lens is from the eye.
If you're having a check to see the contacts are the right strength etc they (my) optician says to make sure you've been wearing them 2 hours before the appointment.

So yes. You need to go back and get a contact lens prescription. Although with your glasses prescription I would give you a similar one to your contact lens one, unless you’re over 40.
Ask to speak to the optician if you’re getting nowhere with the other staff.

Thanks all. I will go back to clarify.

And I think in future I'll have my eye exam on a different day to my contact lens appointment to avoid further confusion.

@underneaththeash - I am over 40. Does age make a difference? I was tested for long-sightedness, but that doesn't seem to be an issue for me at the moment.

@OriginofSpecies - reading your posts I don't think you've actually had a sight test for your contact lens with the opticians. You had an after care exam which just checks that your eyes are healthy and the lenses are fitting ok. You then had a sight test for glasses.
So you wouldn't get a contact lens prescription as they haven't done the sight test for lenses.

@imsorryiasked

Ahh, that makes sense as I requested an aftercare contact lens appointment when I booked. I'm pretty sure the optician checked my vision whilst I was wearing my lenses though - asking me to read the letters on the board.

It still means that the glasses prescription that I was given after my recent appointment is the same as the contact lenses that I've worn for several years.

Previously I've gone to Boots, had a sight test and contact lens aftercare, then they order the contacts for me and they arrived each month in the post. I guess this time I'm more confused as I was ordering the contacts myself.

So I'd need to request a contact lens sight test in future to specifically check my vision for contact lenses?

You shouldn't wear contacts before a "glasses" sight test.

Why not?

Every optician I have ever been to does the same as the OP experienced i.e. offering a double appt for a sight test (covering both glasses and contact lenses if required) followed by a contact lens care appt. Are you saying that none of these opticians know what they're doing?!

My glasses one is higher too. Not sure if that's because I'm short sighted.