Masks and travelling

[Molmo]

Hi

I am lucky enough to be travelling to Borneo with my husbands work in the new year. I am double jabbed and boosted so I only have one concern…masks. If I wear a medical blue type mask which often seems to be required abroad my whole face becomes red and itchy. I could happily scratch my face to ribbons. Any ideas on what I should do if asked to wear one.

[Troilus]

I have a cage inside my mask which keeps it off my face. I got them from Amazon. Not expensive. Might be the answer.

[Molmo in reply to Troilus]

Thanks I’ll check it out.

[Poobah]

As Troilus says, a cage can hold the mask away from the face, but where the edges lie against the skin, you could try Vaseline as a barrier. Sudocrem is great at relieving irritated skin. Whatever mask you wear there's going to be contact and rubbing. If we're talking eczema though, I would talk to your GP about hydrocortisone cream. Obviously, check official websites about what prescription meds etc you're allowed to bring into Indonesia/Malaysia.

[Molmo in reply to Poobah]

Don’t think it’s exzema or friction. I literally react to the mask. Thanks for the meds tip.

[Poobah in reply to Molmo]

It's going to be a challenge by the sound of it, especially with the high humidity in Borneo. This article may have some good pointers rcni.com/nursing-standard/n...

[peege]

What an opportunity! I'd take plenty of antihistamine tablets, I use over the counter ceterizine - if you're not contraindicated against them & they're allowed. 1/2 a tablet works for 12 hours (for me). They would also be useful with insect bites. Again check with gp.

[Kekememe1 in reply to peege]

Hi. I just wanted to ask you about the other zyrtec. Does it make you super dehydrated and what do you do to help. It makes me so dehydrated and no amount of water can resolve it. It literally takes about 3 days to feel hydrated again as evidenced by looser sinus drainage.

[peege in reply to Kekememe1]

So sorry, I dont know what zyrtec is. P

[HungryHufflepuff in reply to peege]

Zyrtec is the brand name for cetirizine. I used to have Zyrtec at one time. Kekememe1 if Zyrtec makes you dehydrated, could you ask your doctor or pharmacist about trying loratidine, I’m not sure if I spelled that right. It’s another form of antihistamine.

[peege in reply to HungryHufflepuff]

Ah, I see. Thanks HH.It's never made me dehydrated thank goodness. I buy mine as supermarket's own brand because it's so much cheaper than the branded cetirazine

[watergazer]

I think the last ones I bought were plastic free and made in the U.K. got them from Amazon cx

[MTKing]

Masks are still mandatory on that part of the world I think . Probably N95 or one with hypoallergenic cotton inner lining?

[hilary39]

Would a thin cotton one be better? You will likely need one the entire flight and for a lot of the travel time.

[Carriejen]

I can't tolerate the blue medical masks, and I have no idea why. They make my chest feel quite tight. I usually don't wear them, as I use use Buf (home bargains!) and when I've been in hospital (visiting) I was able to wear the buf as usual with a medical mask over the top and nobody said anything about that. Maybe something like that would help if it's not physically touching your skin?