Minus (-) means you are short sighted (Myopic) i.e. you can see close up but objects viewed in the distance appear blurred. And plus (+) means you are long sighted (Hyperopic) i.e. objects viewed close up may be out of focus.

Astigmatism: This is where the curvature of the front surface of the eye is not perfectly round. Your vision will be blurred at most distances if the astigmatism is significant. A correction for astigmatism will be recorded in the ‘Cylinder’ and ‘Axis’ part of the prescription. Axis is simply an angle, at which the Cylindrical power of your lens sits. This angle is measured in degrees (1 degree to 180 degrees)

Presbyopia: This is where the lens inside your eyes loses its flexibility so that focusing on objects close up becomes difficult. It is part of the natural ageing process of the eye and usually affects people in their mid 40s. A correction for presbyopia will be recorded in the ‘Near’ and ‘Intermediate’ part of the prescription.

It is common to have no values for any one of the prescription sections, in which case you might see the letters “PL” or “plano” which means zero.