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Your pupillary what?
Pupillary distance (PD for short) is the length, in mm, between the centre of your pupils.
This measurement allows us folks to align the optical centre of your new lenses with the centre of your eyes.
Sounds good right?
Frustratingly, your pupillary distance on prescription papers isn’t always stated. If you pluck up the courage to call-in and request it from your optician, it’s a sure fire way of giving the game away.
“Sorry, but I’d rather buy my glasses online.”
Sounds awkward. And nobody likes that.
Instead, why not measure your PD yourself? If you can read a ruler, you’re already halfway there. Really.
The following steps will show you how to measure your PD.
Measure it yourself
Ok lone ranger, here's the deal.
We've designed and made you a free PD ruler.
It's got a wee slot for your nose and mirror-friendly numbers. This makes the job much easier and gives a more accurate result, especially if your'e doing this alone.
Check out this bad boy.
We know. It's awseome.
It's a downloadable PDF which you can cut-out and fold to make into a surprisingly accurate PD ruler.
Wait... did somebody just say arts and crafts?
Already a member? Get your PD ruler here.
Method 1: Using our PD ruler.
Pro tips
You may end up with a couple of different measurements.
What's a mono PD you ask? Click here
Method 2. What about a regular ruler?
Ok cowboy, you can use a regular ruler for this job.
However, it's pretty fiddly to hold the ruler still on your brow and will probably give you inaccurate results.
Oh yea, rulers are sharp. Just saying...
Method 3: How to measure pupillary distance using old glasses
This is a classic move.
You’ll need help from a friend on this one so it’s good to ask nicely.
Method 4: Mobile app.
We’ve done the hard work for you.
Here’s a free pupillary distance app you can download.
Check it out here
Method 5: Your prescription may already have it
Take a good look at your prescription paper.
Excusably, you might have overlooked your PD as it can sometimes be sneakily tucked away without realising it. It might even be on the reverse-side of the paper.
If your PD measurement is there, it’ll appear as one or two numbers.
Male or female, your PD size will vary, roughly between a minimum of 58mm and 68mm.
To ensure that the centre of your lens aligns with the centre of your eye, your PD measurement is pretty important.
It’s safe to say that guessing your PD is a big no no, especially after reading the steps we’ve shown you above.
But let’s not freak out about this one guys.
Sure, you don’t want to give us the wrong pupillary distance… but think about it. Your glasses can sit ever slightly ‘off’ on your face so pin-point accuracy is perhaps a little bit overkill.
Heck, with the instructions above, you know what you’re doing. You’ll nail it.
Mentioned earlier, your PD can be written as one or two numbers.
Your prescription paper may use dual PD’s as standard.
These can be added together, but only if require a PD total. This is usually for single vision glasses wearers.
However, if you require complex or strong prescription lenses such as varifocals, it’s imperitive that you provide your dual PD's as per each of your eyes.
This lets us that your lens centres are as accurate to the centre of your pupil as possible. Varifocal glasses have a higher tolerance of accuracy as they are a more complex lens type.
Generally, total PD’s or average PD’s are considered as insufficient for varifocal prescriptions.
You can measure your mono PD yourself with a basic ruler, but we suggest you use our free PD ruler which locates onto the centre of your nose for a more accurate result.
My Mono PD’s are slightly different?
Don’t worry, most people have a slightly asymmetrical head.
In fact, the most attractive celebrities have facial asymmetry… phew.
Your mono PD’s will vary ever so slightly. For example, your right eye Mono PD could be 32.5mm and your left eye could be 33mm.
This variance is perfectly normal
If you wear single vision glasses, it can be okay to use average PD’s.
But the problem with average?
It’s… average.
You’re better taking a few minutes to get a proper measurement using our advice above. However, if you’re cool with average, here’s the average PD’s for adult men and women.
