Single Vision vs. Progressive Prescriptions

There are two main types of prescriptions that require different lenses—single vision lens prescriptions and progressive lens prescriptions. When you’re checking out, one of the first questions we ask is whether your prescription is single vision or progressive. We’ve sorted through the technical jargon and noted the key points.

What Are Single Vision Lenses?

Single vision prescriptions are the most common among people who need vision correction. It means the lenses are correcting for one field of vision—nearsightedness, farsightedness and astigmatisms. The entire lens contains the same amount of vision correction.

What Are Progressive Lenses?

Progressive prescriptions call for multifocal lenses that correct for nearsightedness, farsightedness and everything in between. Compared to lined bifocal lenses—which requires much adjustment from your eyes to see clearly—progressive lenses’ seamless transition from distance correction on top to reading correction on bottom provide much sharper overall vision.