Coronavirus: With heat and summer, how to manage mask and hydroalcoholic gel?

HEALTH - The holidays are approaching and the Covid-19 epidemic raises the same questions as those encountered in the summer of 2020. How to withstand the heat with a mask is one of them. How to use hydroalcoholic gel in direct sunlight is another.

And we have all experienced it, wearing a mask in hot weather is hard to bear. Fresh air has less facility to reach the lungs, the respiratory muscles are stressed, therefore we are more out of breath and our body accumulates heat, notes the Japan Times.

Unfortunately, Emmanuel Macron announced it, during his trip to the Lot on Wednesday June 2, the end of wearing a mask outdoors “will be done in a differentiated way” according to the territories and the population density and “at the national level it will still be necessary to wait a little” to be authorized to no longer wear it, although several epidemiologists question the real usefulness of this measure.

Moreover, some prefectures have already issued decrees to put an end to the wearing of masks outdoors. “In the Alpes-Maritimes, for example, wearing a mask is no longer compulsory on the beaches. In Puy-de-Dôme, it remains compulsory in municipalities with more than 10,000 inhabitants. In Lozère, the obligation to wear it outdoors has been lifted throughout the department “since the end of April. While waiting for the generalization of the lifting of restrictions, here are some tips for combining sanitary gestures and high heat.

First of all, health professionals recommend choosing the right mask, taking into account the color and material. So, prefer a light-colored mask. “The darker a color, the more it absorbs the rays of the sun which are transformed into heat”, explains to Ouest-France Laurent Misery, dermatologist at the University Hospital of Brest. “With black, absorption is most important. White, on the other hand, reflects light and therefore does not accumulate heat,” he continues. What applies to a T-shirt therefore also logically applies to a mask.

The material of the mask is also decisive. For an afternoon in the sun, choose a cotton or bamboo fiber mask rather than a synthetic mask. "Cotton is not necessarily good at absorbing moisture from the skin, but it is more breathable than synthetic fibers such as polyester, which can make you warmer and make it harder to breathe", underlines Nicole Jochym, student in medicine, with the Philadelphia Inquirer. According to epidemiology professor Gerardo Chowell, interviewed by Buzzfeed, bamboo absorbs water (and therefore sweat) much more efficiently than cotton.

Find out more about wearing a mask during a heat wave

If this advice may seem trivial, it is still worth pointing out, especially when in the middle of summer, we are dripping under our mask. Breathing harder is an additional factor of contamination, because the number of droplets ejected by the mouth and nose increases. With the heat, breathing accelerates and becomes more intense, as when practicing a sports activity. The surgical mask would quickly lose its filtering capacities due to the humidity generated by hyperventilation.

Be careful, however, not to moisten the mask, because if it “is wet, the static electricity of the fibers of the fabric which stops the droplets of the sputters disappears and the droplets pass more easily”, explains the French Association of standardization (Afnor). The solution, change your mask more regularly than every 4 hours, to prevent it from being too wet due to intense breathing.

If sweating cannot be the cause of the transmission of the virus, it “risks causing the mask to slip and constantly putting it back on with your hands is not recommended”, also explained to HuffPost doctor Roland Krzentowski, president of Mon Stade, a center of expertise in health, sport and performance in Paris, in this article.

It is also not recommended to touch your face with your fingers, even to wipe away perspiration. Choose a single-use handkerchief, which you then throw in a trash can, or use an atomizer to cool your forehead or neck. No more sharing water bottles.

Learn more about the consequences of intense breathing on the transmission of covid-19.

To avoid headaches, sweating and fogging of glasses, there are a few tricks. “My bosses tie the rubber bands of the masks with string or a piece of plastic so that it doesn't pull their ears. It is done more and more in the hospital, to relieve pain. To remove the fogging of the glasses, I advise to pinch the mask well at the level of the nose. And I clean my glasses with dishwashing liquid, maybe that helps too!”, says Claire, an intensive care intern, who is used to wearing her mask for more than 20 hours in a row.

Since the heat is felt under the mask, the Robert-Sauvé Canadian Research Institute for Occupational Health and Safety recommends “favoring” as much as possible “breathing through the nose (mouth closed) when wearing of the mask”, because it “generates less heat and humidity”.

Learn more about the advice given by “mask regulars”

Avoid homemade gels made with hazardous ingredients at all costs. “Prefer products designed by hand hygiene manufacturers whose cosmetic properties will be optimal”, advises Pierre Parneix, public health doctor in Bordeaux.

Also be careful with scented gels. “It all depends on the product used. If it is a gel with a certified formula, there should be no particular concerns. Now, I have had the opportunity to see scented or 'original' hydroalcoholic gels, there indeed it is more of a problem. It is often more aggressive”, estimates Isabelle Gallay, dermatologist. “It must contain a single alcohol, possibly two, at least 60% - it is even more effective at 80 or 85% - glycerin to protect the hands, no perfume, because it irritates the hands” , she continues.

Finally, keep in mind that in case of prolonged exposure to the sun, especially at the beach, you do not necessarily need to clean your hands with hydroalcoholic gel. “Using hydroalcoholic gel at the beach is useless: there, a priori, you don't touch any elevator button or door handle, but only your own things and the sand”, affirms Catherine Oliverès-Ghouti, dermatologist in Paris.

Learn more about the dangers of hydroalcoholic gel on skin exposed to the sun

Obviously, among these specific advice on the mask, it is necessary to be all the more careful about heat in general.

Hydroalcoholic gels can dry out the skin, that’s a fact. On this point, Pierre Parneix is ​​joined by the vice-president of the Union of Dermatologists, Isabelle Gallay. “The gel will add dryness to a period when the skin is sensitive. Nevertheless, it is enough to hydrate the skin a little more, even more during exposure to the sun”, she explains to LCI.

Thus, among the Japanese experts alerting to the risks incurred by the combination of mask and heat, Yasufumi Miyake, who works at Teikyo University Hospital in Tokyo, reminds us to cool down with air conditioning if possible. , drinking water regularly and taking breaks. And, of course, not to practice intense physical activity with a mask on the face.

Also see on The HuffPost: Is your surgical mask too big? There is a trick

Gwenn Allanic