Wearing a mask for a long time has brought some troubles to the skin, such as aggravated acne, skin erythema, itching, scaling, skin indentation, breakage, etc. How to take care of the skin under the mask?
The skin diseases under the mask can be roughly divided into physical skin diseases, allergic skin diseases, infectious skin diseases, and other types of skin diseases.
Physical skin diseases mainly refer to physical damage such as erythema indentation, blisters, erosions, and breakages due to the continuous pressure and friction of the skin by the mask. In addition, because the mouth and nose are in a hot and humid environment for a long time, it can cause local skin texture to become soft, wrinkle, peeling and other skin maceration.
Allergic skin disease is caused by allergies to one or more of the materials of the mask (such as metal nose clip strips) causing erythema, swelling, and even erosion, blisters and other manifestations of the contact site.
Infectious skin diseases are mainly caused by the moisture exhaled from the nasal cavity and the droplets when speaking form a hot and humid environment in the local area, which leads to the excessive reproduction of local Propionibacterium acnes, Malassezia, mites, etc., thereby causing local skin folliculitis and others Related skin diseases worsened. What some people call “mask acne” refers to the aggravation of acne caused by excessive secretion of oil and local mites and bacteria in the hot and humid environment under the mask.
Other types of skin diseases are mainly caused by the irritation and aggravation of the original facial diseases under the mask, resulting in local burning, flushing, itching, and even swelling. The general manifestations are rosacea, sensitive facial skin, seborrheic dermatitis and so on.
In view of these problems that may occur when wearing a mask, protection can be carried out by the following methods:
1. Wear a mask of qualified quality, appropriate model, and appropriate protection level. In non-essential circumstances, do not wear N95 masks. Ordinary medical masks are sufficient for protection and can reduce local indentation on the face.
2. Take care before wearing a mask. Put a band-aid on the area behind the ear that has been stressed for a long time. The outer nose can be protected with a Vaseline emollient.
3. Keep the inside of the mask dry as much as possible. It is recommended to replace it after wearing it for 4 hours; if moisture condensates inside the mask, it should be replaced in time.
4. When going outdoors, you need to wear a mask, depending on the weather, wear sunglasses, a sun hat or a parasol to protect the skin exposed outside the mask.
5. Do daily facial cleansing and moisturizing. People with acne should try to avoid using foundation cream and other skin care products that can easily cause clogged pores while wearing a mask.
6. Skin erythema, itching and other problems after wearing a mask should be replaced with other brands or types of masks. For milder cases, external use of calamine lotion, 3% boric acid lotion, zinc oxide oil, etc.; for skin erosions, external use of antibiotic ointments such as mupirocin, if not getting better, you should seek professional doctor’s help.
