And some further advice from the ADINJC on wearing facemasks!

I’ve seen a lot of comments about wearing face masks and the problems with glasses steaming up.  So thanks to David Allen for sending this helpful advice from and NHS consultant surgeon.  Of course surgeons are very familiar with wearing both masks and glasses.  In fact, I don’t think I’d like to be under the knife with someone not wearing either of them!  So here are some helpful tips:

  1. take off your glasses
  2. place the mask as high up as possible on the nose
  3. pinch the metal insert tightly onto the nose
  4. replace glasses.

You will see the edge of the mask is within the lower edge of the glasses.  Masks without the nasal seal insert will of course be more susceptible to glasses steaming up.   Practice wearing a mask in the home then your breathing rate will settle down to normal.  Also, a useful hint from a motorcyclist is to use anti-fog spray on both sides of your glasses lenses.

I spoke to Specsavers today about fogging.  She said please DON’T use washing up liquid, this could strip the coating from your lenses.  The biker anti-fog spray is OK though.  She said to consider using contact lenses, or to put your glasses slightly further down your nose.  She said they are all wearing masks 12 hours a day now and still adjusting to them.

A brilliant tip that has come in from Graham Kent is to position the two central face vents down the centre of the car at head height – with a fairly fast fan flow setting – therefore acting like an air-curtain.  In a former life Graham worked in a freezer centre where they used very strong air curtains to keep the warm air entering.  Sounds like a good idea!