Face Shields/Visors

Hi! I was just wondering if anyone else has problems wearing face shields/visors? I work in a nursery and we are now required to wear PPE when handing over children, and I'm really struggling with the visors! I can't wear masks at all ( I refuse to go anywhere where one is needed, the only exception being Sunday where I needed to wear one for a few seconds for my flu jab, which was awful and required ventolin immediately after!), visors I can tolerate for very short periods of time, but I am finding that when I try to talk to our parents I get very short of breathe! On the whole my asthma is pretty settled, I had a flare in the spring caused by severe hay fever but had my preventer inhaler swapped and that seemed to get things back under control, along with the lower pollen count now! I just wondered if anyone else had any issues as well? Thanks!

[Troilus]

What kind of mask do you use Nicki-Lou? I tried quite a few before I could find one that I could wear comfortably. I’ve tried medical ones, vented medical ones, thick cotton ones etc.

I did find that I can wear ones that are just two layers of light cotton. They are not flat against my face either, they’re a bit beakish.

I got my first from Etsy and then a couple more from Amazon.

I also bought some of the plastic vent things from Amazon to put in myself if I found I couldn’t wear them for long, but I haven’t needed to do that.

[Hidden in reply to Troilus]

Thank you! So far I've found the best one I've tried to be a cotton one my Mum made me, although even with that I can't cope with it for more than a minute or two, so I just avoid places where I need one! Thank you for your reply, I will check out the ones you have suggested and see if I get on any better with them X

[twinkly29]

Following on from Troilus' post, I've got some thin, 1-layer cotton masks. Probably totally ineffective but they look the part! Maybe very thin would be better for you?

Am assuming the visor is instead of a mask? If you also have to have eye protection, a lot of staff in hospital wear goggles instead as they find the visors difficult with masks as well.

It's possible it's not actually asthma causing the breathing issues with the masks (kind of going on what you said about your asthma in general) but maybe anxiety (subconsciously rather than an obvious outward panic) or breathing pattern issues instead - both caused by the having to wear masks/visors. Covering our noses and mouths isn't exactly a normal thing and the brain can kind of go into panic about it.

At the beginning of "mask wearing time", I saw a thing on TV with a phone-in and someone was asking for help generally re masks (their background was trauma in the past meaning face covering was difficult but the advice for getting used to masks was the same regardless). The psychologist (I think) advising said to try wearing a very thin covering, loosely at first (so maybe like a really thin scarf?) in a big open space at a time you're not pressured to be doing it. Gradually build up the time you can manage and progress to thicker material (ie face mask, but like I said initially mine are only 1 layer of cotton fabric) but the idea is that being in the open space and as relaxed as possible means you're kind of telling your brain that it really is ok, nothing bad is happening and it is manageable, you can breathe etc, which your brain then learns by itself. Maybe even take ventolin 15 mins beforehand if that helps knowing you've been proactive? Actually ventolin might help for work at the moment too, before busy handover mask/visor-wearing times.

For some people having to wear masks even for short times is difficult but kind of having it thrown upon you as a sudden change is extra difficult - obviously I'm not an expert in you, but it does sound like your body/brain are panicking about it even though actually you're accepting of doing it. If that makes sense.

[Hidden in reply to twinkly29]

Thank you! Yes, I don't wear a mask underneath just the visors! I too am wondering how much is actually affecting my asthma and how much is my body just being shocked wearing one when I've avoided them as much as I can... I have never liked wearing even light scarfs over my face, so I think it is just something I have to get used to! Good idea about the ventolin actually, I'm on Fostair so hadn't really thought about using ventolin as a preventative measure as I hadn't wanted to combine the two unless I need to, but definitely something I can try... I'm not on hand over duties again until next week (we have a rota and take it in turns anyway) but I will try it out and see if that helps, thank you for your reply x

[twinkly29 in reply to Hidden]

That sounds a sensible plan. You definitely can take ventolin and Fostair - as you know, in theory when controlled, you shouldn't need to, or should only rarely need the ventolin. But, as a hopefully temporary but also proactive measure, I would go with it being ok. It's a weird old world at the moment and if it helps, go for it. Maybe after a while you'd be ok without the ventolin.

[Hidden in reply to twinkly29]

Thank you Yeah I was told by my asthma nurse to still take the ventolin if and when I need to and not be worried about using them both when needed, but just to keep a check and book in for an urgent review if needing to use it more than a couple of times a week so they can review me and the dosage... Yeah, maybe it will just help while I'm getting used to it, thank you x

[Lysistrata Administrator Community Ambassador]

Hi, a friend who finds masks difficult due to asthma has found some things which keep them off your face a bit which she says does help, especially wearing them at work where she has to wear a surgical one (nurse but non-clinical), vs her own ones.

I haven't tried them but have given up on some masks because they sit too close and it does feel a bit smothering (not necessarily asthma just hard to wear for anyone), whereas others with more of a beak shape/those which sit away a bit naturally are easier, as you literally have a bit of breathing space between yourself and the mask.

She got these ones but there are probably others if you google (apparently the price has gone up!): smile.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08GK...

[Hidden in reply to Lysistrata]

Thank you for your reply! I will look into this and see if it helps, thank you x