Masks are now an important part and parcel of everyone's life today. But many of your might be wondering if everyone is wearing a mask, then there should be no disease spreading,
But improperly wearing a mask is the most important reason of failure of mask.
Hence, for the best benefits, make sure to keep in mind the following points while wearing a mask!
Before starting, it is necessaary that we find out the routes of entry of
COVID-19 virus. Corona virus spreads through the
droplets secreated by the infected individual and then, enters the human body through the following sites-
- eyes
- mouth
- nose
So in order to protect ourselves it is necessary to protect these entry points. Masks do help in protecting our mouth and nose.
But our eyes do remain exposed.
Confused which material is effective in providing your protection against dust, bacteria and viruses? Check out all the answers here 👇.
Here are some of of the POINTS one must keep in mind while WEARING A MASK-
1. Sanitize your hands
- before putting on the mask
- after putting off your mask
WHY?
To understand this, your should read the points below-
2. Fitting of your mask is more important than your type of mask
Many of you might think that N95 mask provides better protection than the Surgical or a Cloth mask an all.
But NONE OF THE MASKS WORK if they DO NOT have a PROPER FIT.
- A loose mask will allow it to slide down
- A tightly fit mask will make it difficult for you to breathe
- A loose mask will allow bacteria or virus to enter from sides of above or below the mask borders
- A loose or tight mask will make you touch your mask again and again to adjust it and this will increase the chance of leaking virus towards your nose and mouth
If you are starting with wearing a mask, you will definitely feel uncomfortable, but give it some time and you will get accostomed to it
3. Don't touch the mask- useNO FACE TOUCH TECHNIQUE
Through out the day, our hands touch various surfaces, consciously or unconsiously. We never know which area is infected and which is not!
Touching your mask will lead to contaminating the mask and also the area around your mask.
That is why it is recommended to sanitize your hands before touching your mask.
Scientific studies have shown that outside of your mask has more bacteria/virus than the inside of the mask!
That is the reason you must sanitize your hands after touching the mask.
Such activities can expose the virus/bacterias to the entry points such as nose, mouth and eyes!
Some micro-organisms causing diseases can also enter your body through your eyes! This true in case of COVID-19 virus!
Touching your face will give the virus a hang to enter your body.
So, prefer using a no face touch technique for best protection
4. Cover MID OF NOSE to BELOW CHIN
It is quite common to see people adjusting their mask during speaking. This is because improper coverage of mask.
Make sure to consider this while buying your mask your mask must be broad enough to cover the region starting from the mid of your nose to point below the chin.
Nose is the main entrance through which you breathe in and also the entrance through which most micro-organisms can enter in and cause diseases.
If you pull down your mask below the nose while speaking or generally, remember you are exposing your nose and also the 2nd point mentioned above!!
5. Know the OUTSIDE and INSIDE of your MASK!
If you are using a surgical mask, the part of mask which is bright blue should be kept on outside and the light blue or fade blue on the inner side
If you are using a cloth mask, make sure to keep a mask on one side or remember which is inner side. Don't interchange the mask surfaces!
As discussed above, outer surface of mask has more bacteria/virus than the inner surface.
Doing the above activities will help you maintain the difference betweeen outer and inner surface.
6. The border with metal/plastic part is meant to cover your nose
Most masks come with metal/plastic wires present on one border of the mask. These are meant to be placed on your nose.
These are highly effective in preventing for that comes up on your spectacles. After wearing masks, press the wires and mould them according to the shape of your nose. This will increase the comfort of mask to a great extent.
7. Use the STRINGS to HANDLE
We have discussed the importance of not touching the outside of mask.
So how will you put on a mask?
- The best way to handle a mask is using the strings/bands attached with the masks.
- Hold the mask at the point start of strings and hang them above your ears.
- To remove the mask, hold the mask from the same point and pull the marks off.
8. DON'T PULL DOWN, just remove
Incase you want to have water or have a bite, prefer removing the mask and placing it on side rather than pulling it down to your chin/neck.
Your neck/ chin surface may be contained from the surrounding.
Remember If you do this again and again prefer changing your mask immediately.
9. Maintain the INSIDE of your MASK!
It is the inner side of a mask that comes in direct contact with your nose and mouth. So it is important to maintain the sterility of inner side for best protection
If you are removing your mask and planning to wear it later, make sure to maintain the inside of the mask untouched and as clean as possible.
When keeping aside your mask, make sure you do not let anything touch the inner side of mask.
Also as discussed earlier, hold the masks using the stings while wearing them back.
10. Time limit - 6 to 8 hours
Our body tends to secrete oil and sweat at regular intervals. Wetting a mask leads to decrease in its efficacy.
Moreover, it is difficult to breathe through a wet mask.
Plus.
Humans tend to do mistakes. Repeated breech in the above mentioned points will affect the efficacy of a mask!
This is more applicable for surgical and N95 masks, so prefer changing you mask for more than 6 hours, maximum after 8 hours.
Many of the above mentioned points, might be difficult to keep in mind, especially in the start wehne one starts to wear a mask.
Because we were not told to wear masks since birth, so we are not accostomed to it!
This habit will not come in your routine untill you follow it on regular basis. So for starting, try to remain as consious as possible about your hand and its's contact with your face.
And slowly you will be habitual to these points.
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