AUKs face mask exemption graphic

[EmmaF91]

Hi all. Another copy and paste from the Facebook page but hope this helps with some of the anxiety over face masks:

“The government have said that people with asthma who find face coverings make it harder for them to breathe do not need to wear one, but we know lots of you have said that you feel nervous about being stopped or challenged about this on public transport.

To help, we've produced an Asthma UK graphic which you can download from our website and use on your phone, or print out. You could use this to signal to drivers, staff or anyone else that you can't wear a face covering.

Lots of transport providers have also introduced their own schemes to show an exemption such as digital cards and badges, you can find a list of these schemes and download our graphic here 👉 asthma.org.uk/advice/trigge...

Remember: it's only in England and Scotland where face coverings are currently mandatory on public transport. And, if you are comfortable to wear a face covering then you should do so to help prevent the spread of infection.”

Original post; facebook.com/40952091012/po...

[LDloveslattecoffe]

Good to know for those that need it x

[twinkly29]

I saw a reply on Facebook that suggested people experiment with different coverings before deciding that wearing a covering trigger asthma - their words not mine but something to consider as a mask might not be ideal but a looser scarf might be ok as we often have to do in winter.

But of course these exemption things will no doubt be useful for those who can't tolerate anything!

[Lysistrata Administrator Community Ambassador in reply to twinkly29]

Yes - I can just about manage a surgical one, am okish with thin jersey ones like a scarf, but have never been much good with the thick filter ones (I used to try for pollution and it just didn't work - nothing to do with anxiety, I don't get that from breathing issues but it was too thick and cut things off).

So yes worth experimenting but I know may still be tricky for some. Also I haven't really tried wearing them out to actually walk around - I don't see the need for just walking away from people, whereas I can understand why they're needed on buses etc.

[Willow7733]

That is so interesting. I work in a hospital, and even those who do not have asthma, have said they found it hard to breathe with a mask on all the time. They feel claustrophobic or they have a hard time catching their breath which is totally psychosomatic, and is totally normal. I mean it is a true feeling - it is not a normal thing to be wearing. So I wonder....how much of asthma is anxiety related? I never saw myself as a very anxious person. But I do have a lot of stress in my life. Very interesting....

[EmmaF91 Community Ambassador in reply to Willow7733]

For me, if I wear a mask both my saturation’s and peak flow dramatically drop. Literally sat on my sofa doing nothing, my PF will drop to 40% and my sats to 93% within about 10 mins (I stopped the experiment after this as I was seeing if I’d be able to wear a mask out and about and was hitting a dangerous level just sat!). I put up with the symptoms during the experiment, but know it would have been a lot worse had I attempted to do anything active. My PF did not recover itself to a safe level either (my sats slowly did after a few minutes) so I have to salb to stop the issue

Our airways are already compromised and additional physical stress like wearing a mask can cause our airways to become irritated and inflamed, and this narrow causing flares and attacks. Hope that explains the physical phenomenon that’s occurring for some respiratory patients when they wear masks. Not everyone will get it just like not everyone is triggered by hot weather, or by perfume etc etc, but for those who do it is a physical issue, not an anxiety one (tho I will add for some anxiety and mental stress can be massive triggers for asthma as well, creating the physical response in the airways so should be treated responsibly too!)

[twinkly29 in reply to Willow7733]

Having now had 3 asthma admissions since covid became a pain in the bum, most recently this week, I can confirm that staff hate masks 3 months on despite wearing them all the time - I suspect if it was just anxiety they'd have got over that by now! Probably a personal thing but I think the shields are worse for many people - and several asthmatic staff preferred goggles for eye protection to the shields. But that's an aside as thankfully we aren't expected to wear those as well lol.

Mind you we were laughing about them maybe finding it really really odd without them once masks are no longer needed (whenever that may be!)

[Willow7733 in reply to twinkly29]

Staff here still talk about the way masks make them anxious when they have them on. And it is like that all the time. Not just from Covid. When I worked in the OR department, it was the same. Or any type of situation where we had to have isolation procedures. It is a real thing. Once over, it is a relief to get the masks and protective gear off. But in reality, the masks are not air tight. They are made so you can breathe with them on, but it is difficult in the best of health. I was thinking of that too! Once this is all over, how weird will it be not to have to wear them? Such a strange situation really.

Anyway, It is just something that I was wondering about - not meant to belittle or make anyone feel they had less of a problem. They don’t. I get it and have the same problems. Just wondering out loud because of what I was seeing and perhaps what I was experiencing too - about little old me. 😊

[twinkly29]

*moved post as I put it in the wrong place. Oops!*

[AirIsUnderrated]

I work in a GPs' surgery (admin). As shielding patients are now being allowed back in the surgery, staff have to work in a 2m "bubble". If we leave the bubble for whatever reason; to answer the front door, or go to the toilet, the kitchen, someone else's bubble, the confidential waste bin 2' from my desk 🙄 we have to wear surgical masks. We can't wear the masks on the phones, because the patients can't hear us. Thankfully!

Everyone agrees they are hot, they smell and steam up our glasses. In addition for the two of us with breathing sensitivities, they make us light-headed and increase the already significant labour of breathing, and there is no time allowed for it to settle down again before the masks have to go on again.

I hate answering the door, because I have to hurry 15m down a corridor, open the door, have a yelled conversation with a patient against the background noise of a busy roundabout through my and their masks, before hurrying back again to get their urine sample pot etc. and bring it back out to them. On a bad day, I spend my 2-hour front desk duty panting and trying not to cough.

We aren't able simply not to wear one. Staff in a medical setting have to. I could ask my boss to take me off the front desk, but that wouldn't be fair on the others. I manage.

I also have a 2-layer fabric mask that I wear in shops, and that is much easier to breathe through.