28 Aug Our top tips on wearing a surgical mask

Who would’ve thought that everyone in 2020 would be wearing masks across the whole of Melbourne? As regular daily wearers of surgical masks, The Smile Team would like to share with the community some of our best tips for wearing surgical masks effectively during this current COVID-19 pandemic.

Here’s a video of our tips

Here are some of our tips in point form

• Sanitise your hands before handling your mask.
• Make sure you wear the mask the right way out. For most masks, the coloured side faces outwards. The importance of wearing a mask the right way out is because the side that is designed to face outward repels airborne droplets, while the side that is designed to face inwards is typically more absorbent and softer against the face. In addition to losing some of the protection from the mask, breathing can be much harder if the mask is on in reverse.
• When placing the mask on, aim to only touch the earlobes to minimise cross contamination of the mask.
• Pinch the mask around the nose to secure, and pull the mask under the chin. A mask that is not covering the nose, or is open and loose around around the chin would not be protecting you nor others.
• For patients who wear glasses, further adaptation around the nose and cheekbone is important to minimise fogging of the glasses. There are anti-fog sprays and home remedies to create anti-fog solutions to further help if required that you may be able to search for on the internet.
• When taking off the mask, try not to touch other parts of the face.
• A surgical mask is typically designed for single use with a set hourly duration of a few hours, but this depends upon the manufacturer’s recommendations as well as the type of exposure the mask to contaminants.
• Remember to sanitise your hands too after removing the mask.

We very much hope you find the tips helpful.