 |
 | Home | Contact Us | FAQ | Search & Site Map | Link to Us |
 | Sign In | Join | Other 45 Sites in Network |
Medical Forum / General / Vision / December 2006What does "Pl" mean?
I just had an eye exam (first in eight years). When I got home I looked at the prescription and it had "Pl" under Sphere for one eye. That same eye was -0.75 eight years ago. Anyone know what the Pl notation means?  SignatureJohn Richards Pl is short for "plano", which means no refractive error. The light entering that eye is properly focused at the retina. Glenn Hagele Executive Director USAEyes.org Patient Advocacy Surgeon Certification "Consider and Choose With Confidence" Email to glenn dot hagele at usaeyes dot org http://www.USAEyes.org http://www.ComplicatedEyes.org I am not a doctor. Copyright 2006 All Rights Reserved Thanks. Seems like it would be more comprehensible if the optometrist would simply write 0.00 for the sphere parameter. SignatureJohn Richards > Pl is short for "plano", which means no refractive error. The light > entering that eye is properly focused at the retina. > Thanks. Seems like it would be more comprehensible if the optometrist > would simply write 0.00 for the sphere parameter. IIRC it's because zeroes can look like sixes, and "pl" is easier to write. -MT Keeping things consistent would be better, but if you consider plus cylinder and minus cylinder you will understand that the industry seems quite content with confusion. Glenn Hagele Executive Director USAEyes.org Patient Advocacy Surgeon Certification "Consider and Choose With Confidence" Email to glenn dot hagele at usaeyes dot org http://www.USAEyes.org http://www.ComplicatedEyes.org I am not a doctor. Copyright 2006 All Rights Reserved Not quite. Pl under the sphere means the spherical component of the spectacle Rx is 0.00. I does NOT mean that there is no refractive error. There can be cylinder, prism, and there can even be a spherical component to the refractive error which is being adjusted to zero in the spectacle Rx for one reason or another (can be many reasons). w.stacy, o.d. > Pl is short for "plano", which means no refractive error. The light > entering that eye is properly focused at the retina. > > Glenn Hagele I am looking for a source that can provide Glass Lenses in an Executive Bifocal. Is anyone still making this lens?? Thank you, Stacye M. >I am looking for a source that can provide Glass Lenses in an Executive >Bifocal. > >Is anyone still making this lens?? > >Thank you, Stacye M. Stacye, Not in the United States. It is available in plastic, and you can still get ST35's in crown glass. Regards, Robert Martellaro ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Optician/Owner Roberts Optical Wauwatosa Wi. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "An expert is a person who has made all the mistakes that can be made in a very narrow field." - Niels Bohr >Not in the United States. It is available in plastic, and you can still get >ST35's in crown glass. > > The passing of an era. The exec glass was a very good lens, an optically perfect version of the original bifocal invented by Ben Franklin. American Optical made the best quality Exec (aka e-line, no jump, Franklin) in glass and the plastic versions never seemed to me to have the quality as the original. As the years go by, the line gets more smeared and there is more and more prism at the line (not predictable in amount). I don't know what the difference in manufacturing technique is (I never could figure out exactly how they ground those front surfaces), but I'd bet they are using old glass molds to form the plastic versions, and they are deteriorating. We used to make good frames, too... w.stacy, o.d. >>I am looking for a source that can provide Glass Lenses in an Executive >>Bifocal. >> >>Is anyone still making this lens?? Unbelievable! First it was executive trifocals they stopped making (glass). And now BI-focals? Any idea WHY? And, don't Americans care (any more) about decent-VISION through their eyeglasses? Or is it simply greedy CEOs wanting every possible extra penny in EPS, since (often?) many tens-of-millions of dollars payout is boosted by that? >>Thank you, Stacye M. > >Stacye, > >Not in the United States. QUESTION: Where then can you get them from? It is available in plastic, and you can still get >ST35's in crown glass. QUESTION: And what are *they*? Thanks, David Not enough demand. Probably because they aren't teaching ophthalmic optics like they used to. New people think the lines are "ugly". They are programmed to "sell" progressives, and that if a lens is more expensive, it "must" be better. >>>I am looking for a source that can provide Glass Lenses in an Executive >>>Bifocal. [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > > Any idea WHY? Subject: What's a "flat-top" lens-shape/geometry? (Was: Glass Executive Bifocal) I was told (just yesterday) by a glasses-manufacturer I was briefly talked to that I should look into "flat tops" (no, not navy ships!). For bifocals and trifocals, how do these flat-tops differ? Pros, Cons? (he said they came in glass too) Thanks, David It is a D shaped (with the curved side downward) that is commonly used, available in 22, 28, 35, 45 mm widths, although I don't think 45 is avail in glass. The trifocal version is like the D but with two straight lines, parallel to each other in the D instead of one, in various separations (between the two lines, where the power is about half the add of the lower part) from 7 mm to 14 mm. Again, less availability in glass than plastic (I've only seen 7x28 and 8x35 in glass. My favorite is the E-D trifocal, which has an exec upper line and a D style "bifocal" seg set 8 mm down from that line. They used to have an F-D with a 12 mm separation. A great lens, but my own usage of it in my practice was not enough to keep Sola making it. Alas. w.stacy, o.d. > Subject: What's a "flat-top" lens-shape/geometry? (Was: Glass Executive Bifocal) > [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > > David oh and as to the differences between flat top and exec? The exec has "no jump" or double vision (when they are made correctly) at the seg line. Flat tops all have prismatic jump at the seg line. The difference between glass and plastic D segs is that the glass uses two different indices of refraction glass, fused together so there is no palpable "ledge" at the seg line as there is on all plastic D segs. of course all execs have a ledge, but no jumping allowed... w.stacy, o.d. >oh and as to the differences between flat top and exec? The exec has >"no jump" or double vision (when they are made correctly) at the seg [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > >w.stacy, o.d. Thanks for the info! So, for someone who likes executives (can switch eye-direction from all the way left to all the way right, while keeping the nose *still*, no-rotation-required) -- in your estimation, are "flat-tops" (even) better? (I was told by one seemingly-knowledgeable person that they were *much* better, newer design, less distortion, etc.) Was he right? wrong? He also told me that executives were made only in the U.S. -- never got popular in Europe. (of course(?) they like progressives there, but I can't stand the idea of having to always twist my head to look left and right. THANKS! David >So, for someone who likes executives (can switch eye-direction >from all the way left to all the way right, while keeping >the nose *still*, no-rotation-required) -- in your estimation, >are "flat-tops" (even) better? > Not better in theory. In practice, a 35 mm wide seg flat top works fine for most, but you can't beat the exec or single vision for what you're describing. >(I was told by one seemingly-knowledgeable person that >they were *much* better, newer design, less distortion, >etc.) > >Was he right? wrong? > wrong on all 3 counts. execs are a more recent design than flat tops, have less prism, less jump, and are a better design for many people. >He also told me that executives were made only in the U.S. -- >never got popular in Europe. > > may be true, as it for many years was a proprietory lens owned by American Optical Corp. >(of course(?) they like progressives there, but I can't >stand the idea of having to always twist my head to >look left and right. > > Then get an exec or a ft-35. You can get a ft 45, but there's so much jump and prism in the seg that I hate them. >>So, for someone who likes executives (can switch eye-direction >>from all the way left to all the way right, while keeping [quoted text clipped - 32 lines] >Then get an exec or a ft-35. You can get a ft 45, but there's so much >jump and prism in the seg that I hate them. Thanks so much! David |
Reply to this Message |
 Sign In
 Join
 My Latest Posts My Monitored Threads My Blog My Photo Gallery My Profile My Homepage Start New Thread Enable EMail Alerts Rate this Thread
|
©2008 Advenet LLC Privacy Policy - Terms of Use
This website includes both content owned or controlled by Advenet as well as content owned or controlled by third parties.