Reading Glasses Strength: How to Test Your Eyes

If you ask us, they work by making you look stupendous and giving you an air of inexplicable wisdom. If you ask an eye doctor, they might tell you that reading glasses magnify all of the information coming into your eyes, making it easier for you to focus on up-close activities like reading, writing, or mindlessly playing solitaire (during work hours) on your computer screen.

Simply put, reader strength refers to the intensity of magnification you’ll need in your lenses, ranging from +1.00 to +4.00. You can visit your eye care provider for some help determining the proper strength for you, or you can take our handy-dandy reader strength test.

The strength of your reading glasses is measured in units called diopters. The higher the number, the more powerful the magnification in your lens. If you choose reading glasses with a strength that doesn’t match your eyes, you might experience side effects like unfocused text, headaches, and eye strain – suboptimal conditions for an enjoyable read. You deserve readers that make you look forward to cracking open a book, and look damn good doing it.

Our readers start at +1.00 as the lowest strength, and increase in increments of +0.25 up to +3.00. We also offer +3.00, +3.50, and +4.00 for those who need a little extra oomph in their reader strength. As a general rule, if you just need a little boost to keep things in focus, you are probably closer to a +1.00. If words look more like inkblots from a Rorschach Test … well, you may need a more substantial power, like a +4.00.

We aren’t ones to over-generalize, so keep in mind that just as with any prescription, your reader strength is unique to your eyeballs and yours alone. While most people use readers between +1.00 and +2.50 diopters in strength, the strength you need will inevitably evolve along with your eyesight.

Yes, indeed – nothing gold can stay, unfortunately, and that includes your close-up vision. You will invariably need to up your reader strength as you get more years under your belt. Good thing you get some spiffy new eye candy out of the deal, right? Although reader strength varies on a case-by-case basis, most eye care professionals agree on a sort of guiding line based on age. Those who fall between the ages of 40 and 49 will generally need a reader strength of +1.00 to +1.50. Individuals aged 50 to 59 typically use readers with a strength of around +2.00, and those over the age of 60 often need readers with a strength of +2.50.