Item — HN Reader

"I feel from the moment that I put them on that I can't get quite enough to breath." That's what they are feeling - they may be claustrophobic, etc. And I believe they are feeling that.

But let's look at actual data - there's no measurable impact on blood oxygen saturation when wearing masks:

https://twitter.com/MurseWordsworth/status/12767990206738882...

https://twitter.com/AlisonKabaroff/status/127738060548793958...

https://twitter.com/DrRobDavidson/status/1277565585568784385

3 comments

I'd just like to clarify that blood oxygen levels is not what makes you feel like you can't breathe. It's the amount of CO2 in the blood that's the issue. The first tweet addresses this point though.

I'm not entirely convinced by the test shown though. Doing a similar test while doing light exercise would be more convincing.

Another important factor to consider is that people breathe differently. Some people breathe more through their nose, others through their mouth. Maybe this can have an effect? Then there's also the fact that some people can take much stronger breaths (pulmonologists are always disappointed by my spirometry test results).

Mask wearing is important, but it doesn't feel right to just dismiss the reports that some people have more difficulty breathing with masks just because it doesn't happen to me.

My mother who has severe issues maintaining her oxygen levels and has to be on oxygen while she sleeps wears a mask while she's out and about fine.

I'm guessing the issues people face is less about the masks and more about the sensation of wearing a mask which spikes anxiety levels and causes the sensation of being unable to breath. If Japan can reach near ubiquitous levels of mask wearing without issues especially given their larger elderly population, I'm sure they'll be fine.

Otherwise if they have an actual medical issue that prevents wearing a mask then by all means.

> My mother who has severe issues maintaining her oxygen levels and has to be on oxygen while she sleeps wears a mask while she's out and about fine.

"It works for me" or whichever other anecdote is given to dismiss a valid complaint has never held any water and never will.

> If Japan can reach near ubiquitous levels of mask wearing without issues especially given their larger elderly population, I'm sure they'll be fine.

Masks aren't fun to wear, I was out in one yesterday in Japan and my wife, who is Japanese and has worn a mask long before this pandemic was a glint in a bat's eye, was complaining about being out of breath and uncomfortable.

They're well known for being uncomfortable even in the winter, and they have plenty of negatives beyond that.

Besides, if you saw the way people wore masks in Japan you'd never use it in an argument.

Arguing with blood oxygen saturation is prety much strawman. Nobody here claims that facemasks impact that. Effects of insufficient CO_2 elimination are much earlier. If you were in badly ventilated room with 2000 ppm CO_2, you would feel dizziness even that you would still have full oxygen saturation.

That’s not data, that’s a few anecdotes.

You seemed fine with anecdotes upthread.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23728608

That’s because even one example suffices to prove an existential claim such as masks can interfere with breathing. That’s not true for universal claims such as masks don’t interfere with breathing.

The claim was "Wearing masks do not affect oxygen intake", not "they can't impact breathing in any fashion".

You'd have to rule out confounding variables like panic attacks, nervousness, etc. - especially in first-time medical workers - and obtain actual evidence of impact on oxygen saturation for those anecdotes to be useful.

You must be confusing me with another commenter. I specifically said: “complaining about masks interfering with their breathing.”