How to measure pupillary distance (PD)
What is PD?
Your Pupillary Distance, or PD, is the distance in millimeters (mm) between the center of one pupil to the center of the other. A personalized fit starts with measuring your pupillary distance: it indicates which part of the lens you look through, ensuring optimal comfort and clarity.
Why is it important?
If your PD isn’t right, it can cause eye strain, fatigue, or simply not being able to see properly. The higher your prescription, the bigger the effect an incorrect PD can have. So get measuring!
WHAT IS SINGLE VS DUAL PUPILLARY DISTANCE?
HOW TO GET YOURS?
You can ask your eye doctor to include your PD measurement on your prescription,
or if you don’t have it, you can use one of the following
methods to measure it—it’s super easy!
1.POSITION YOURSELF
Put on glasses and keep your felt tip marker handy. Focus on an object at least 20 feet away.
Smart tip: If measuring for near-sighted glasses, focus on a close object like reading material or a computer screen.
2. MARK YOUR GLASSES
Mark with your felty marker on your right lens directly over the object. Mark over the object on your left lens.
With both eyes, make sure the markings overlap into a single dot.
3. MEASURE
Measure the distance between the two dots with a millimeter ruler. That number is your PD. Jot it down.
Smart tip: The average range of an adult PD is 54-74 mm, the average range of a child PD: 43-58 mm
1.POSITION YOURSELF
Focus on an object 20 feet away.
Smart tip: If measuring for near-sighted glasses, focus on a close object like reading material or a computer screen.
2.USE THE RULER
Stand about 8” away from a well-lit mirror.
Look straight ahead into the mirror and position the ruler over the bridge of your nose.
3.MEASURE
Starting with the right eye, line up the zero end of the ruler at your pupil; measure the distance from your right to your left pupil. The millimeter number that lines up with your left pupil is the measurement you want: that number is your PD!
Smart tip: Just to be sure, measure a few more times to make sure you get the same number. You want it to be accurate. The average range of an adult PD is 54-74 mm, the average range of a child PD: 43-58 mm
