Surgical challenge
After the outbreak of COVID-19 on a global scale, wearing an ear-hooked face mask has become an unavoidable part of many people's daily routines. However, the fixed size of face masks does not always fit well. What's worse, wearing face masks all day contributes to great discomfort. In particular, the constant pressure applied to the postauricular area may cause pressure injury.
For this reason, people need to adjust their masks frequently to release the pressure, leading to a higher risk of infection. This problem can be properly addressed by tying the mask loop onto the occipital area with a plastic band.1 However, the problem of adjusting tightness remains unsolved.
Solution
By making some cuts using a pair of scissors, a serrated straw that can be used in conjunction with the ear loop-style mask is obtained, with the sharp part removed (Fig 1 , A). The tightness of the face mask can be adjusted by placing the band into different cuts (Fig 1, B).The main advantage is the adjustable tightness of the mask for people with differently shaped faces. Additionally, there is no pressure on the ears, with the degree of pressure on the face able to be adjusted, making wearing a mask far more tolerable.
Fig 1.
A, The serrated straw with bilateral ear bands fixed on the back of head. B, Different cuts for placing the band.
Footnotes
Funding sources: None.
Conflicts of interest: None disclosed.
IRB approval status: Not applicable.
Reprints not available from the authors.
Reference
- 1.Jiang W., Cao W., Liu Q. Wearing the N95 mask with a plastic handle reduces pressure injury. J Am Acad Dermatol. 2020;82(6):E191–E192. doi: 10.1016/j.jaad.2020.04.001. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]