When Glasses and Masks don’t get along
Since the new normal, which entails living with the COVID-19, wearing a mask is one of the safest way to protect ourselves when we are out in public. In some provinces in the country, it has become mandatory to wear masks everywhere you go. You have to put on your mask while in transit to protect yourself from the person next to you. This is because you do not know where the other person has been, and whether or not they have been infected. Similarly, the World Health Organization is also strongly advising on wearing a mask out in public.
Wearing a mask is not easy, especially since you have to wear it out almost everywhere you go. Wearing a mask can even get more difficult if you have to wear it while also putting on a pair of glasses for extended period of time. Glasses plus mask do not get along especially since you feel like you are trapped in between the two. In addition to that, glasses do not fit smoothly over the mask as it tends to be slippery all the time. This is very dangerous especially if the glasses trip and fall when you are in the middle of doing something important. Also, adjusting your glasses can led to having contact with parts of your face. This is very dangerous since you do not know whether or the not the surfaces you have touched were infected. Furthermore, wearing mask and glasses causes the glasses to fog up, causing huge discomforts which can also lead to continual hassle when out and about.
Why do glasses fog up?
This is a problem that everyone wearing a mask and glasses has faced at one point, during this coronavirus pandemic. This happens when the air your breath escapes from your mask. The glasses fog up, hindering you from seeing clearly where you are going. Since your breath is warmer, it creates water vapors, travelling outwards to the edge of your mask. It then lands on a cooler surface, which is the surface of the lens of your glasses, hence the formation of the fog.
This can turn into frustration especially when you are trying to get through your day. Wearing fogged up glasses affects how you operate on a daily basis, and can affects activities like reading messages, replying to your emails, not being able to see clearly when speaking in a public place, and even missing a step when getting in the bus or the house. You can trip and this can result to serious injuries, which can in turn lead to breaking of your eye glasses. All this is happening because you cannot see properly.
Our eyes as a means of Communication
Apart from the fog causing practical inconveniences, making eye contact when speaking to the other person also becomes difficult since you cannot see the other person clearly. Making eye contact with the other person is a form of non-verbal communication. Not being able to see the other person makes communication very challenging and someone may think that you are not listening to them since they are not getting any facial communication from you.
Moreover, since a larger part of your face is covered up with the mask, you need your eyes as an important part of communication when conversing with the other person. An old saying about the eyes being the window to the soul implies in this case, meaning that connecting with the other person becomes difficult when the window to communicating with the soul is fogged up.
However, there are some ways that you can adapt to, to help prevent your glasses from fogging up. Some of these ways include wearing a tighter mask and putting soap in your glasses and letting it dry before putting them on. On the contrary, these methods cause huge discomforts in the following ways.
- Wearing a tighter mask is very uncomfortable especially since it pulls your ears. You will focus more on ensuring that the mask is comfortable to your face, and in the process you may touch the mask with your bare hands, which is in turn dangerous and can expose you to the COVID-19 disease.
- Wearing tighter masks also restrict how air flows in and out of your nose. You breathe in the same air you exhaled, hindering fresh air from coming into your nose. This makes the people who are COVID-19 positive to spread the virus since they are breathing in and out the contaminated air.
- Masks also force you to draw closer during conversations. This is because you cannot hear what the other person is saying. You are increasing your chances of getting the virus especially if the other person is infected and they have no idea about their condition.
- Putting soap in glasses is also very risky especially if it rains and you are outside with no umbrella. The rain will soften the dried soap, which will in turn cause the glasses to be unclear. This is dangerous when you are crossing the road or even alighting from the bus as you may trip.
Wearing tight masks and putting soap on your glasses might help for a short term, but they have long term side effects. The good news is that there is a permanent solution to this problem, which will helps you go about your daily activities like you used to before the COVID-19 happened. Getting the LASIK vision correction helps to permanently solve eye problems. However, before booking an appointment for this procedure, ensure that you first consult with your doctor so that he or she can determine if the procedure is safe for your eyes. This eye correction procedure is permanent and makes activities like hiking, going to the grocery stores, and working much easier. It also eliminates the hassle of putting on glasses, making you concentrate on much important things than worrying about your eyesight. Therefore, getting this permanent eye solution is the best way to go during this complicated times.
