Poll of the Day > If you breathe through your nose, while wearing a face mask.

(+) Yeah! (+)

I went shopping yesterday but man was it hard with my face mask on for so long (had to stop at autozone and order a part for my car as well). When I was not near other people, I ended up pulling my mask down so it covered my mouth, but not my nose, and then I would breathe through my nose.

That was much better. I really have a hard time with breathing after 10-15 minutes with a mask on.

But i'm curious if that is...well safe? I mean I heard part of the reason to wear the mask is to avoid moisture particles from exiting your mouth and infecting other people. From what I understand the masks do VERY little as far as actually protecting you from the virus, but help prevent you from spreading it.

I don't really plan on going out much honestly and i'll just wear the mask normally when around other people, but i'm curious if breathing through your nose actually reduces risk as well.

---

No the mask really needs to cover your mouth and nose to work, although if it covers your mouth and you cough or yell I suppose it would be better than no mask at all

A lot of people have mentioned they have trouble breathing in masks and I feel that way sometimes too, but a lot of people with asthma wear them and have been posting checks from a pulse oximeter while they wear a mask throughout the day and its always at 98-99%

so I think it must be a psychological thing

---

Here's the thing about the masks.

It's all for show.

If I can fart thru underwear, long johns and a pair of jeans and still smell it, none of these cloth or paper masks are going to stop you from inhaling particles or expelling particles.

It's all performative at this point.

---

WhiskeyDisk posted...

If I can fart thru underwear, long johns and a pair of jeans and still smell it, none of these cloth or paper masks are going to stop you from inhaling particles or expelling particles.

There are tons of people just like you, isn't there. Our species is doomed.

---

N95 it up

Clench281 posted...

There are tons of people just like you, isn't there. Our species is doomed.

I wear the mask. I have no choice if I am to conduct business of just about any kind.

But to be clear, I'm under no fucking illusions that it does a goddamned thing.

---

I'm glad you know better than our top infectious disease experts, truly.

Where'd you research this stuff, can you remind me? Dunning Kruger University, was it?

---

I believe they are supposed to cover your nose but if you have issues breathing with said mask that way then pulling it down to your mouth is better than nothing. I only wear mine on public transport as I have to. I've had my nose put pack in place due to a accident years ago so my nose is a bit more sensitive. These masks don't feel that great on the bridge of my nose but thankfully I'm not on public transport long enough for it to be a major issue so I just put up with it.

---

Mead posted...

No the mask really needs to cover your mouth and nose to work, although if it covers your mouth and you cough or yell I suppose it would be better than no mask at all

A lot of people have mentioned they have trouble breathing in masks and I feel that way sometimes too, but a lot of people with asthma wear them and have been posting checks from a pulse oximeter while they wear a mask throughout the day and its always at 98-99%

so I think it must be a psychological thing

In my case it's more that hot and humid air is always harder for me to breathe tbh.

Inside a mask is always like a swamp when I'm wearing one.

WhiskeyDisk posted...

Here's the thing about the masks.

It's all for show.

If I can fart thru underwear, long johns and a pair of jeans and still smell it, none of these cloth or paper masks are going to stop you from inhaling particles or expelling particles.

It's all performative at this point.

droplets are bigger than odors, and a virus cant travel via the latter

not sure if you thought you were posting something clever but your post really just makes you seem ignorant

---

Clench281 posted...

I'm glad you know better than our top infectious disease experts, truly.

Where'd you research this stuff, can you remind me? Dunning Kruger University, was it?

Yes the experts definitely all said a 75 cent paper mask blocks all diseases.
---

Mead posted...

so I think it must be a psychological thing

I grew up with pretty bad asthma as a kid and even though I grew out of it, I think I probably do still have a psychological reaction to that feeling of restricted breathing.

Mead posted...

droplets are bigger than odors, and a virus cant travel via the latter

not sure if you thought you were posting something clever but your post really just makes you seem ignorant

its whiskey, thats par for the course really

---

If you aren't covering both your mouth and your nose with the mask, there's no point in wearing the mask. Adjusting it to only cover your mouth when others aren't around is okay in the sense that you aren't going to be infected by/infect anyone else (obviously), but making that adjustment does mean touching your face, which can result in contamination if your hands aren't clean. Ideally, you should just leave it be until the time comes to actually remove it, but if you do need to adjust it like that more frequently than that, you should carry a small bottle of hand sanitizer and use it before touching your face (within reason, of course. You don't need to sanitize if it's been two minutes since the last time and you haven't touched anything else).

---

The mask is mostly worn to protect others from what you have not the other way around. It's the reason doctors wear them when doing operations and are cutting into a patient to help prevent the viruses they may have from getting inside the patient.

Monopoman posted...

The mask is mostly worn to protect others from what you have not the other way around. It's the reason doctors wear them when doing operations and are cutting into a patient to help prevent the viruses they may have from getting inside the patient.

to some extent it also protects those wearing them

youre right though

---

The simple ones that everyone has access to for cheap are not that effective. Better than nothing I guess but to argue that those are gonna protect you for sure...no.

Main thing I see is people dont really social distance anyway unless there are markers on the floor etc.

---

masticatingman posted...

Main thing I see is people dont really social distance anyway unless there are markers on the floor etc.

I have a lot of trouble with it. I instinctively want to approach someone if Im talking to them and even if Im queued up in a line I have to constantly remind myself to leave a large gap and not walk all the way forward

and its almost impossible to do if youre grocery shopping, at least in my experience

---

WhiskeyDisk posted...

If I can fart thru underwear,

@WhiskeyDisk You're clearly smarter than doctors scientists and surgeons. Really impressive how you managed to do that without any kind of education whatsoever, just thinking about it at your computer desk.

You've clearly done an entire particle simulation in your own mind. What do you make of these scientific studies that dare challenge your genius?

https://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/10.1377/hlthaff.2020.00818
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7191274/

---

Yellow posted...

@WhiskeyDisk You're clearly smarter than doctors scientists and surgeons. Really impressive how you managed to do that without any kind of education whatsoever, just thinking about it at your computer desk.

To be fair most who comment on this COVID and hell even some of the experts don't have any idea what they are talking about or doing. This is understandable given it's something new but I'm not going to drag folks views down just because they have a different way of thinking when it comes to this. Point is you do you.

---

except it's not like face masks are a new thing, they have they been used for decades and their ability and functions well documented and known

yeah, can't be that.

---

YEah I don't know if it's psychological or what, although that seems weird because it gets worse the longer I re-use a mask etc (not nearly as bad with a fresh mask). I do have a hard time sleeping if something is close to my face (making me re-breathe my own air etc) which seems to be a similar feeling to me wearing a mask for any period of time.

It gets worse the longer I wear the mask before taking a breathe without the mask.

I figured if I breathe in from my nose and out through my mouth (into the mask), I would at least protect others and if I breathe in through my nose only when otherpeople are not around it wouldn't be so dangerous.

I am looking on line for a permanent mask that is further from your face (like a real gas mask) but i'm a bit worried that I won't be able to handle that long either.

I don't go out almost at all, so it's not a huge deal/problem, but if this is gonna keep going on for a few more months I probably need to get something better than cloth/paper masks.

---

This is your only solution:
https://i.imgur.com/pJOFGls.png

---

Clench281 posted...

I'm glad you know better than our top infectious disease experts, truly.

Where'd you research this stuff, can you remind me? Dunning Kruger University, was it?

Get fucked. I wear the mask. Is that not enough? Do I have to enjoy wearing it and believe it does anything with a religious zeal to please you?

---

WhiskeyDisk posted...

Get fucked. I wear the mask. Is that not enough? Do I have to enjoy wearing it and believe it does anything with a religious zeal to please you?

its more of a scientific zeal but sure

---

helIy posted...

except it's not like face masks are a new thing, they have they been used for decades and their ability and functions well documented and known

yeah, can't be that.

A cheap mask you get at a regular store is not going to protect you. You need a specific kind of mask for full protection.
---

Revelation34 posted...

A cheap mask you get at a regular store is not going to protect you. You need a specific kind of mask for full protection.

it's not about protecting yourself

it's about trying to protect others.

---

WhiskeyDisk posted...

Here's the thing about the masks.

It's all for show.

If I can fart thru underwear, long johns and a pair of jeans and still smell it, none of these cloth or paper masks are going to stop you from inhaling particles or expelling particles.

It's all performative at this point.

You should tell the surgeon general. I think you're more qualified than him

---

Zangulus posted...

okay GameFaqs Karen.

Says the guy that didn't know how to wear a belt.

---

WhiskeyDisk posted...

Says the guy that didn't know how to wear a belt.

do YOU know how to wear a belt???

---

Mead posted...

do YOU know how to wear a belt???

That's one step shy of "I know you are, but what am I?" Are you really trying to get smug and superior with me using Pee Wee Herman level quips?

---

WhiskeyDisk posted...

That's one step shy of "I know you are, but what am I?" Are you really trying to get smug and superior with me using Pee Wee Herman level quips?

avoiding the question

pretty suspicious for a guy that was so eager to talk about belts just a few posts ago

---

i dont think he knows how to wear a belt now

---

If your mask is not covering your nose and mouth, then your NOT wearing a mask. You nose is probably the worst thing you can leave uncovered. I'd rather you only covered your nose and then just kept your mouth shut. If you did find you need to speak then you should cover both.

---

helIy posted...

it's not about protecting yourself

it's about trying to protect others.

Yeah those cheap masks are going to also protect others.
---

lmao some dude ITT said did you go to Dunning Kruger university? Lol

well played

---

wolfy42 posted...

I really have a hard time with breathing after 10-15 minutes with a mask on.

But i'm curious if that is...well safe?

Try wearing one for an 8-12 hour shift.

and no. It completely defeats the purpose.

once again I state the notion that most people dont comprehend how to be hygienic.

---

ZBug_ posted...

Try wearing one for an 8-12 hour shift.

and no. It completely defeats the purpose.

once again I state the notion that most people dont comprehend how to be hygienic.

Before the recent surge I was hoping to hit CA before the winter, but the fact you have to wear masks for the whole plane trip etc made that impossible. There is no way I could wear one of the masks I have for 8-12 hours right now.

I need to get either A: A better mask or B: a gas mask type thing, but I got to get something that doesn't make it so hard to breathe for me (at least if I'm ever gonna go out fairly often).

Since I'm high risk i'm being told to stay at home for at least a few more months. I think the only solution is to get a real legit gas mask so I can go out safely (and real gloves as well).

---

WhiskeyDisk posted...

I wear the mask. Is that not enough? Do I have to enjoy wearing it and believe it does anything with a religious zeal to please you?

Clench was a bit rude. We are grateful that you wear a mask despite not believing in it. It's more than a lot of people are doing.

I think where Clench might be more irked is voicing unsubstantiated opinion on a public health issue. You're right - you don't have to have religious zeal about masks. Everyone can say/believe what they please. But if millions of people around the country spread information undermining the official public health messaging, that can put people at risk too.

Also, TC - Do you otherwise have asthma, or other breathing difficulties?

Are you trying to take normal, deep breaths when you wear the mask, or are you only taking shallow ones? Maybe not breathing normally/deeply enough would make it uncomfortable after a while. Maybe practise a bit more at home?

If it's an N95, you could maybe swap it for a more loosely fitting one.

I have not thought about it, but I do always have a hard time breathing if something is in front of my face. Like I can't sleep with my mouth under blankets etc (Even when I was homeless for a year and living outside, I would make a whole for my mouth to breathe through. That was basically 30 years ago, so it's been a problem my whole life.

I just normally automatically avoid such situations so it's not something I ahve though about. The masks though make me HAVE to deal with it, and it really sucks. It doesn't start off bad but it gets there pretty fast.

So far I just have either the medical paper like mask (which I have re-used till now it's HORRID to use (even just a few minutes makes it impossible to breathe through), or a cloth one (which lasts much longer but I still have a problem with it).

My friend suggests I just get a respirator, and says that isn't hard to breathe in, but I vaguely remember having a problem when trying to use scuba gear and I think that is going to be similar. Still it's only like $40 for one, so I'm gonna try and find one nearby I can get and try that.

It's probably more effective/safer than a mask anyway, and it looks like things are not going to be safe for high risk people like me for at least a few more months:(

---

WhiskeyDisk posted...

If I can fart thru underwear, long johns and a pair of jeans and still smell it, none of these cloth or paper masks are going to stop you from inhaling particles or expelling particles.

SARS-CoV-2 virus particles range between 50-200 nanometres in diameter (5e-8 to 2e-7). Farts contain a number of different odorant molecules, including some as small as hydrogen sulfide, which is approximately 200 picometres in diameter (2e-10). That means the virus itself is 2-3 orders of magnitude larger than the smallest molecules that need to get through for a fart to be smelled. More significantly, this is not a virus that can survive in a dry environment, so the only way you're going to see transmission is via water droplets. Those droplets tend to fall in the 5-10 micrometre range (5e-6 to 1e-5), 4-5 orders of magnitude larger than the odorants in your farts.

The fact that you can smell a fart through multiple layers of clothing does not mean that a similar layer of cloth does nothing to prevent the transmission of droplets that are 10,000-100,000 times larger than those odorants. Of course it's not going to be perfect, especially without an airtight seal around the edges (to say nothing of not protecting the eyes), but to suggest that it does nothing is profoundly ignorant of basic biology and math (every number cited here can be found with less than a minute of googling/wikipedia).

To be clear:

• 0.0000000002 m - Smallest fart odorants
• 0.00000005 m - Smallest SARS-CoV-2 particles
• 0.000005 m - Smallest droplets (required for Covid transmission, are the actual target of masks)

Those are very significantly different numbers.

WhiskeyDisk posted...

Do I have to enjoy wearing it and believe it does anything with a religious zeal to please you?

You don't have to enjoy wearing it. Nobody ever really enjoys wearing PPE, regardless of the situation. You should, however, accept that people who very obviously know more about the matter than you are probably right even if your superficial assessment of the matter leads you to doubt. You should also recognize your ignorance, and if your lack of understanding causes you to have questions about the advice of experts, ask those questions instead of spreading misinformation by spouting off your ignorant drivel as though it has any merit. There are plenty of people out there who will be happy to explain it to you without calling you an idiot, but only if you solicit that advice by asking properly instead of by acting like an idiot to attract their attention.

---

adjl posted...

SARS-CoV-2 virus particles range between 50-200 nanometres in diameter (5e-8 to 2e-7). Farts contain a number of different odorant molecules, including some as small as hydrogen sulfide, which is approximately 200 picometres in diameter (2e-10). That means the virus itself is 2-3 orders of magnitude larger than the smallest molecules that need to get through for a fart to be smelled. More significantly, this is not a virus that can survive in a dry environment, so the only way you're going to see transmission is via water droplets. Those droplets tend to fall in the 5-10 micrometre range (5e-6 to 1e-5), 4-5 orders of magnitude larger than the odorants in your farts.

Knowing all this, creating a warm, moist environment around the mouth, nose and eyes is the plan? Giving Covid the perfect environment right in front of your face for when you do take off the mask, that's the socially responsible thing to do?



---

WhiskeyDisk posted...

Knowing all this, creating a warm, moist environment around the mouth, nose and eyes is the plan? Giving Covid the perfect environment right in front of your face for when you do take off the mask, that's the socially responsible thing to do?

... Covid doesn't arise spontaneously in warm, moist environments. If you aren't taking your mask off in an area where transmission is likely (which I don't think I have to tell you would be pretty silly), conditions under your mask aren't going to be particularly relevant to transmission risk. If you've been performing particularly high-risk activities (like practicing medicine), it is advisable to wash your face upon removing the mask and goggles (after washing hands) for that reason, but for regular use, it's not really a concern. That environment also doesn't linger very long unless you've been drooling into your beard or something (in which case the mask isn't why your face is moist).

---

wolfy42 posted...

I mean I heard part of the reason to wear the mask is to avoid moisture particles from exiting your mouth and infecting other people. From what I understand the masks do VERY little as far as actually protecting you from the virus, but help prevent you from spreading it.

I heard the same. I have no idea if you expel particles from your nose or not. If you dont, I guess it would be ok...

That being said, I know what you feel like. I have wearing them because I have trouble breathing with them on. And I start breathing harder at some point. I only wear them when I have to. Which is some places on base. And according to the local news, our town most likely wont make us wear mask. They professionals just recommend it...

adjl posted...

but making that adjustment does mean touching your face

Wouldnt it mean touching the mask? Whenever I put on, take off, or adjust the mask, I touch my mask. But not my face. And if youre talking about the mask touching youre face where your hands touched it, that happens every time I put it on. Probably the same for most people. Which would mean that theyd be real useless, and more dangerous. Though, like I said, youll be touching the mask instead of your face...

wolfy42 posted...

I figured if I breathe in from my nose and out through my mouth (into the mask), I would at least protect others

That does seem reasonable. If you breath out through your mouth and its covered, that sounds like it would make sense... I dont if it works like that, but seems logical...

wolfy42 posted...

like a real gas mask

Real ones suck, though... At least, in my experience (and most people I know in the military). Those can be even harder to breath it. That being said, Ive never had to wear them in the cold. But theyre horrible In the heat. When we did all the MOPP stuff, people sometimes pass out. And people would be sneaking breathes it. You wouldnt be able to do it real world, but people did it for training. So, those might be even worse, tbh...
---

LinkPizza posted...

Wouldnt it mean touching the mask? Whenever I put on, take off, or adjust the mask, I touch my mask. But not my face. And if youre talking about the mask touching youre face where your hands touched it, that happens every time I put it on. Probably the same for most people. Which would mean that theyd be real useless, and more dangerous. Though, like I said, youll be touching the mask instead of your face...

Ideally, yeah, you'll only be touching the mask, but in practice it's very easy to accidentally go beyond its edges and touch your face, or to touch the edges of the mask such that they transfer the contamination to your face. You're also directly contaminating the outside of the mask by touching it, increasing the likelihood of something seeping through it (especially after you've had it on for a while and it's getting damp). It's not as bad as directly touching your face, but it's still best to avoid if you can.

---

adjl posted...

Ideally, yeah, you'll only be touching the mask, but in practice it's very easy to accidentally go beyond its edges and touch your face, or to touch the edges of the mask such that they transfer the contamination to your face. You're also directly contaminating the outside of the mask by touching it, increasing the likelihood of something seeping through it (especially after you've had it on for a while and it's getting damp). It's not as bad as directly touching your face, but it's still best to avoid if you can.

I mean, its pretty impossible to not touch my mask, though. Unless I have psychic powers, that is (Though, I cant use those much due to an incident a while back)...
---

Proper technique for donning/doffing the mask is to handle only the straps and avoid touching the part that actually covers your face. In practice, for some styles of mask, that's not actually possible, but it should still be the aim.

---

adjl posted...

Proper technique for donning/doffing the mask is to handle only the straps and avoid touching the part that actually covers your face. In practice, for some styles of mask, that's not actually possible, but it should still be the aim.

Mine is a cloth one and has these folds. So, I have to stretch it out. So, my mask definitely gets touched...
---