Getting over the stigma of wearing a mask in public!

It has been a busy few weeks with a number of trips down to London. Last year when I had a few trips to London there was a clear deterioration in my asthma when I was there. My peak flow dropped substantially and I was constantly feeling tight, wheezy and just couldn’t get my breath or settle my breathing. I took all the precautions I thought I could- such as increasing my treatment, pre medicating before going out and about in a bid to stop my airways getting more irritated. It was interesting to see the drop by almost 150 l/min in peak flow between arriving in London at night and the next morning it was down. It really did not take long at all. What did take a long time was getting my peak flow to come back up. It was not until I had been back home for about 5 or 6 days that my peak flow returned to normal. (The trip I am talking about to London was ironically a research meeting to discuss air pollution on lung health!)

Knowing I had and will have many more trips to London I knew I couldn’t expose my lungs to that level of irritation again and couldn’t afford to let my peak flow drop and need more medication to get back on track again. If I did not do anything then I would be on this rollercoaster every time I was in London or other heavily polluted cities and my lungs really don’t need it.

After some research I decided to purchase a Cambridge mask with a carbon filter in it to protect my lungs from the air pollution when in London or else where.

I need to point out here that there is a lot of people out there wearing masks such as this or the vogmask which also has a filter in it but it is VERY important to realise that these masks will not protect you from bacteria or viruses. Often there are posts on social media of people wearing these masks in hospital to protect them due to suppressed immune system. They don’t work for that and the companies state that too. Only high grade surgical masks will protect from bacteria or viruses.

I was really apprehensive about wearing it and thought I would get funny looks, pointed at and comments made, but one fo the people I was with in London told me to put it on and my breathing was more important than what other people think. So I wore it and got on with it. I really was not sure how much it would help, if it would help at all or was it just a waste of money.

Since purchasing the mask and wearing the mask when out and about in London I can say it has been worth spending the money. I was very skeptical and part of me still is as both London trips recently were very close together so I am not sure how much might be just that my asthma was not too bad. Once arriving in London the next morning my peak flow dropped by 50 l/min but it also stayed stable throughout my time there rather than moving around the place. I had some low grade breathlessness, coughing and chest tightness but nothing massively concerning that gave me too much cause for concern. Once back home my peak flow did pick up a little bit but I cant directly attribute the initial drop to London but I think what I can say is that wearing the mask with the filter did impact my lungs and kept my lungs stable. I have had 2 trips now with the mask and things have been more stable as a result.

I am still trying to understand just how much the pollution impacts my lungs but clearly it is as when wearing the mask there is a marked change from pre mask and a change for the better. Unfortunately I will not be able to avoid going to London as there are so many things down there with regards to research etc but using the cambridge mask has made a difference and has added a little bit more security for y lungs and reduce the risk of exacerbation as a result of pollution. I am not sure how much the pollution in Edinburgh effects my lungs but it might be something to consider and perhaps wearing a mask in Edinburgh night help too.

I cant reiterate enough though that these masks are not hospital grade and will not protect against all viruses and bacteria etc. It is a carbon filter. The website does say it filters bacteria etc but speaking with medical professionals and different lung charities they do not support their use for bacteria and viruses protection.