"Remove the mask and breathe freely" is a beautiful vision of defeating the epidemic, but we still need the company of masks before we achieve a complete victory. Liu Jing, an attending physician in the Department of Dermatology and Venereology, Beijing Ditan Hospital, said that wearing a mask for a long time has brought some troubles to the skin, such as aggravated acne, skin erythema and itching, scaling, skin indentation, etc., and teach you some ways to take care of your skin.
The skin diseases under the mask can be roughly divided into physical, allergic, infectious skin diseases, and other types of skin diseases.
Physical dermatosis mainly refers to the physical damage of skin such as erythema indentation, blisters, and erosions 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 diseases are caused by allergies to one or more of the mask materials, such as metal nose clips, which cause erythema, swelling, and even erosions and blisters at the contact site.
Infectious skin diseases are mainly due to the moisture exhaled from the nasal cavity and the droplets when speaking form a humid, humid and hot environment in the local area, which leads to the excessive reproduction of local Propionibacterium acnes, Malassezia, mites, etc., thereby causing local skin folliculitis And other 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.
For these problems that may occur when wearing a mask, some common protection methods are provided.
1. Wear a mask of qualified quality, appropriate model, and appropriate protection level. In non-essential cases, you don't need to wear N95 masks with better airtight performance. Other ordinary medical masks are sufficient for protection and can reduce local indentation on the face.
2. Take care before wearing a mask. For the long-term pressure on the ears and other parts, you can use band-aids, and the back of the nose can be protected by topical petroleum jelly emollients.
3. Keep the inside of the mask dry as much as possible. It is recommended to change it after wearing it for 4 hours. If there is condensation 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, so as not to cause a "yin and yang face."
5. Do daily facial cleansing and moisturizing. People with acne-prone skin should avoid using foundation cream and other skin care products that can easily cause clogged pores while wearing masks.
6. If problems such as skin erythema and itching occur after wearing a mask, you should change to another brand or type of mask. For milder cases, external use of calamine lotion, 3% boric acid lotion, zinc oxide oil, etc.; external use of antimicrobial ointment such as Baiduobang for skin erosions. If it does not get better, please seek professional doctor's help.
Finally, I hope that when the flowers bloom next year, everyone will show healthy and healthy skin.