Why is measurement of the Pupillary Distance not part of the standard UK eye test?

Question

What use is it to me to have a prescription which gives me all the info I need, but omits the Pupillary Distance? I've just paid for an eye examination at Boots which I've found I can't actually use online, because I don't know what my Pupillary Distance is! Does anyone know why measurement of the Pupillary Distance isn't part of the standard UK eye test?

Answer 1

I'll measure it as part of the test, but it's not a requirement to add it to the the Rx form.

I might, along with a vertex distance if powers are high, or if I wanted the Rx dispensed at other than the actual PD.

Dispensing is not a trival skill, and PD is just one one the measurements and factors that a real dispenser considers.

I'd never recommend anyone getting glasses when the supplier has never seen your head, or thought about the pantoscopic angle, or whether to change the PD away from the horizontal datum...

Answer 2

It isn't a part of the prescription in the US or Canada either.

The pupillary distance really has nothing to do with the eye exam.

It is usually just taken by the people who are going to make your glasses at the time you are ordering them.

In other words, there is no reason for them to take that measurement unless you are getting glasses from them at the same time.