We live in a world prospering from buzzwords.
Amid the influx of cleverly devised marketing speak, with influencers selling #sponcon in our feeds; every now and then a worthwhile product comes along, which seems to live up to its promise.
Enter the Instagram-influenced trend of 'computer glassses' - like Kim Kardashian’s waist trainer and skinny tea before it, suspicious were raised about its effectiveness. Pictures of beautiful bloggers wearing oversized frames began flooding our feeds with this new xxxx which promises to ease the strain placed on your eye from staring at a computer screen all day, all while wearing a pair of hipster spectacles.
Computer Vision Syndrome and Digital Eye Strain are two of the leading causes of disruptions in your eyesight and these computer glasses boast features like anti-reflective coating which protects from blue light,w which is largely sourced from electronic devices.
"The distances people work at is new to this generation - computer screen distance is new for us, we’re used to looking in the distance or very close, at something like book," Mr. Arthur Cummings, Consultant Eye Surgeon at the Wellington Eye Clinic and Consultant Ophthalmologist and Head of the Department of Ophthalmology at Beacon Hospital told Independent.ie Style.
"This results in postures being strained, neck ache and backache. Glasses can help, with the right prescription; you’re at your best for that particular distance. In terms of these newer things, they have anti-reflective coating, I’m not 100% sure what their roles are."
The dialogue around blue light is a a big one for consumers as well as medical practitioners and Mr Cummings states, due to the long-term effects among patients.
"Blue light is a hot topic in opthamology, it’s the major cause of massively increasing episodes of short sightedness in southeast Asia and a very big increase in myopia; it has a lot to do with people spending significant time looking at screens," he explains.
"That’s why people who spend time on their laptop or tablet before bed sleep worse, because of the blue light. Some of the phones today have different settings where the colours can warm a little after 10pm.
"Some of these glasses cut out blue light; you won’t see a massive difference day to day, but there are long term benefits."
Although 'computer glasses' might be just another Insta- fad, there’s nothing that can help your sight like giving them a break from technology and enjoying the outdoors and it's simply a case of: no harm, no foul.
"With screens, there’s a 20/20/20 rule: every 20 minutes, you take a 20 second break looking at something 20 feet away. Looking into the distance allows your eyes to relax," he added.
"For the most part, if someone tries them and feels they make a difference, it can’t do any harm."