just weird thoughts on wearing masks

[Kestryl]

When I was fit for my respirator masks I got a small lecture about breathing. Breathing is supposed to be an autonomic process but put a mask on people and they start breathing 'on purpose', but nobody knows how to breath as well as their lizard brain does so they usually just start breathing constantly and hyperventilate themselves.


Why not switch to a surgical mask? I've found them comfortable enough.

I would, but my area is still facing shortages. We’re waiting on some shipments for work and have postponed projects just in case we need to prioritize. I’d feel weird wearing one when they’re practically gold here.

Side note- lizard brain.I love that. Those weren’t the words described in our training, but it’s a perfect description.

 

[monkeydawn]

Good luck to you Monkeydawn.

And yes, at my hospital I am expected to wear a mask at all times. I might ask my Infusion nurse this Wednesday if I can slip it off once they hook me all up for the 20-25 minute infusion.

Thanks, all went well today! I did wear a mask but did the medical one I have rather than the home made one. That was much better. My temp did raise half a degree though.

Your infusion is fast! I am in for an hour now, was 2-3 hours on the other med.

If your masks are home made and you are washing them, could it be a detergent that is causing minor irritation?

Not buying it. If wearing a mask is dangerous to your health, do you really think they would wear them all the time in other countries? Japan? South Korea?

This line of thinking is dangerous IMO. We have no idea what kind of current medical breakthroughs will be viewed as barbaric in 100 years, just like leaching and bloodletting used to be a regular thing. Questioning the status quo, especially in a field that is forever evolving, isnt the worst thing. That said, our best chance is to probably go along with what current research is telling us...

 

[DisneyOma]

Sorry I don't see it. the Poster put out a thought nothing mean just some random thoughts they had and wanted to bounce off some people and maybe learn something.

So, it's okay to post absolute nonsense as truth, as long as someone else comes along to correct the fallacies?

Cloth masks—dangerous to your health?

"The widespread use of cloth masks by healthcare workers may actually put them at increased risk of respiratory illness and viral infections and their global use should be discouraged, according to a UNSW study."

.....The authors speculate that the cloth masks' moisture retention, their reuse and poor filtration may explain the increased risk of infection.

Professor MacIntyre, who has completed the largest body of clincial trial research on respiratory protection in health workers internationally, said emerging infectious diseases are not constrained within geographical borders.
"Effective controls of outbreaks and pandemics at the origin impacts us directly, so it is important for global disease control that the use of cloth masks be discouraged in high-risk situations," she said.
"Despite more than half the world using cloth masks, global disease control guidelines, including those from the World Health Organisation, fail to clearly specify conditions of their use.
"These guidelines need to be updated to reflect the higher infection risk posed by cloth masks, as found in our study."

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2015-04-masksdangerous-health.html

Nice sized fonts - this is how propaganda works at its best! Yup, wearing a cloth mask over and over without washing it in a hazardous location can lead to issues. Not worthy of the hype you've given it, IMO.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Yup, wearing a cloth mask over and over without washing it in a hazardous location can lead to issues. Not worthy of the hype you've given it, IMO.

The question becomes how many of us are washing our masks after every usage (especially if we've touched them) especially after more and more places reopen and people are eating and drinking out more.

At the least light usage can be a few usage but enough contamination means it needs to be washed before used again. I don't know that people are religiously doing this. So on the one hand I get exactly where you're coming from, on the other hand it is a valid point to be had (much like resusable shopping bags should be washed often but generally weren't).

 

[cobright]

Side note- lizard brain.I love that. Those weren’t the words described in our training, but it’s a perfect description.

I got the long speech because I was buying a pair of thousand dollar respirators, and the guy really wanted me to get one for everyone in my shop. Two years later I bought a pair of ClearSpace2 respirators and will never go back. Cost me less than $300 each, about half the current pre-covid retail.

But yeah, as soon as a negative pressure mask goes on we get sensory feedback for our breathing that we never got without it. And that lizard brain is hard wired to avoid suffocation (along with very big fires, heights, and 'the dark' to name a few) so the drive to be sure we're breathing enough is primal. But our conscious mind doesn't have access to all the back-end process that the medulla uses to figure out how often to breath, deep a breath, how quickly to inhale vs exhale, and how long between breaths.

So our conscious mind figures it's better to err on the side of too much breathing. The end result is not an over-abundance of oxygen as I would have imagined but hypocapnia, a dearth of CO2.

 

[cobright]

Nice sized fonts - this is how propaganda works at its best!

Okay, OP needs to learn about the "paste as plain text" function (ctrl+shift+V), but "propaganda" might be a little strong.

So, it's okay to post absolute nonsense as truth, as long as someone else comes along to correct the fallacies?

The study cited is good science and the write-up linking to it is fine for what it is. It doesn't support the premise that wearing cloth masks when going out is putting us in danger. It does approach that topic though, however obliquely, and addresses it as a valid concern.

One thing I've learned, for whatever that's worth, is not to complain about being handed a bad argument. They're easy enough to handle on their merits and it shows that the other person is still willing to use words to get their point across.

 

[monsterkitty]

What I’ve noticed is that in images of people wearing masks in Asia, they are all wearing those thin surgical masks, I haven’t seen any wearing cloth masks. It seems like it’s a new North American idea to wear a cloth covering or mask. I do wonder if it’s just their idea to prevent further depletion of PPEs over here.

Every Japanese foreign exchange student my sister and her family has hosted since Swine Flu have worn a facemask of some sort. In 2011 a survey was taken in Japan and 30% of those who responded said they wear them as a fashion statement. Some are paper, like surgical, but a lot are made of material just like many are making here and selling online.

You can buy Hello Kitty, anime, heavy metal style with spikes, rock groups, floral, checkered, striped, whatever you want to go along with your clothing choice of the day.

 

[Christine]

The question becomes how many of us are washing our masks after every usage (especially if we've touched them) especially after more and more places reopen and people are eating and drinking out more.

At the least light usage can be a few usage but enough contamination means it needs to be washed before used again. I don't know that people are religiously doing this. So on the one hand I get exactly where you're coming from, on the other hand it is a valid point to be had (much like resusable shopping bags should be washed often but generally weren't).

My husband has been working (tradesman) through this whole thing and must be masked all day as they cannot physically distance themselves. He brings a ziploc bag with about 4 clean masks per day. Wears a new one very few hours, brings them home, washes/dries, and does it all again the next day.

I go our for about an hour at a time. My cloth mask gets put in the laundry room after each trip. So if I happen to go out later in the day (rarely) it's a new mask for me.

I have been generally using the paper masks though as the cloth masks make me really hot and some of them make my nose itch (I guess they shed small fibers or something).

 

[minthorne]

Mickey wears a mask all day and he seems fine.

 

[descovy]

So after Hurricane Harvey in 2017 we mucked out several flooded homes for friends and neighbors. It was August/September in humid Houston TX and physically demanding work. We wore N95 masks (I still have a dozen leftovers in the garage) not some wimpy homemade cotton mask or paper mask.

And somehow in the name of being neighborly, nobody balked about doing heavy manual labor in stuffy mold-laden homes on a 90 degree day. It was patriotic, if you will.

Now neighbors are *****ing about wearing a paper mask for 30 minutes in an air conditioned Costco. ????

Anyway, I wear a mask at my retail job (required). I do it for the customer sake, not my own. But I appreciate customers who wear a mask in the store because it shows they care about my health as well. I spend upwards of 6-8 hours cashiering in the store. They spend 30 minutes shopping. I appreciate those who can power through a paper mask for 30 minutes of shopping.

Just like I powered though hours of wearing an N95 mask helping them muck out their flooded homes in 2017.

 

[Heather07438]

I've ordered this mask (merch previously known as horse feed bag)
More air circulation, anti-chafe materials, good seal
And I can eat my snacks without touching them too *wink*


Adding a face shield to this when it arrives.

I'm good to go with my horse feed mask and face shield sippy cup hat

 

[maxiesmom]

Surgical masks do not seal against the face. There are FDA rated filtering respirators that will also do the job of a surgical mask but that isn't the sort of mask recommended for everyday use. Even medical staff are unlikely to be wearing an N95 for hours at a time (though more common these days).

Yes. And I already admitted that was an oops and tried to correct it.

 

[mjr0483]

When I go to Disney World in August, I am one giant ball of sweat. Isn't a wet mask ineffective? I would be changing masks every 15 minutes.
At that point, I would prefer a wet cooling neck gaiter. Hey, its a face covering, right?

 

[mefordis]

Every Japanese foreign exchange student my sister and her family has hosted since Swine Flu have worn a facemask of some sort. In 2011 a survey was taken in Japan and 30% of those who responded said they wear them as a fashion statement. Some are paper, like surgical, but a lot are made of material just like many are making here and selling online.

You can buy Hello Kitty, anime, heavy metal style with spikes, rock groups, floral, checkered, striped, whatever you want to go along with your clothing choice of the day.

Fascinating. We have family friends in Japan and they do not wear masks (pre Covid). My daughter studies Japanese and it is definitely not part of their culture the way it is in China. And those people wear them at will. They don't force them (pre covid )

 

[mefordis]

When I go to Disney World in August, I am one giant ball of sweat. Isn't a wet mask ineffective? I would be changing masks every 15 minutes.
At that point, I would prefer a wet cooling neck gaiter. Hey, its a face covering, right?

The mask thing will probably die down by then. I suspect it will be people who want to wear them, not mandated, after a few months.

 

[DisneyOma]

The mask thing will probably die down by then. I suspect it will be people who want to wear them, not mandated, after a few months.

By August? That's very optimistic! There's going to be a second surge coming, FYI.

 

[mefordis]

So, it's okay to post absolute nonsense as truth, as long as someone else comes along to correct the fallacies?



Nice sized fonts - this is how propaganda works at its best! Yup, wearing a cloth mask over and over without washing it in a hazardous location can lead to issues. Not worthy of the hype you've given it, IMO.

Look up the definition of propaganda. It doesn't mean what you think it means.

 

[mefordis]

By August? That's very optimistic! There's going to be a second surge coming, FYI.

Where did you buy your crystal ball? Walmart? You working with Fauci on your predictions? He's right 50% of the time.

 

[CarolAnn856]

Where did you buy your crystal ball? Walmart? You working with Fauci on your predictions? He's right 50% of the time.

Do you honestly think that scientists have some kind of magic so they know exactly what will happen? We’re in the MIDDLE of a pandemic with a virus UNLIKE others. Of COURSE Dr. Fauci and other experts have to revise predictions and recommendations as new data and trends develop. Good grief.

 

[StageTek]

At that point, I would prefer a wet cooling neck gaiter. Hey, its a face covering, right?

I'm going in September. That's what I'm bringing and wearing.