Home Care Help for Face Masks and Foggy Glasses

16 Sep Home Care Help for Face Masks and Foggy Glasses

To many healthcare professionals, including some of those you will find at Friends for Life Home Care Service, wearing eyeglasses with a face mask is nothing new. Doctors, surgeons, radiologists, nurses and even home health aides have been wearing face masks in combination with their glasses for years. 

Now that it is important for everyone to wear a face mask to stop the spread of Covid-19, their experience can help the rest of us keep our glasses from fogging up. 

Tips to Keep Your Glasses Fog-Free

Patrick Shaw, who manages an optical shop, shared his tips for avoiding foggy eyeglasses with University of Utah Health.  

“One of Shaw’s favorite tips is to adjust the fit to create a seal along the top edge of a basic surgical mask,” the university’s healthcare experts say. “Simply twist the loops once and put them over your ears (they’ll form a figure eight when viewed from the side). Twisting the loops puts slight downward pressure on the top part of the mask, redirecting your breath so it doesn’t flow up into your eyes. Pinch the mask over the bridge of your nose so it fits comfortably.”

The folks at AARP turned to the medical literature to discover ways to prevent face masks from fogging up your glasses. 

“The Annals of the Royal College of Surgeons of England published an article in 2011 that offered a simple method to prevent fogging, suggesting that, just before wearing a face mask, people wash their spectacles with soapy water, shake off the excess and then allow the lenses to air-dry,” AARP reports. This process will leave a thin film behind that prevents the water molecules in your warm breath from condensing into a fog on your glasses. You can also purchase antifogging solutions that will do the trick. 

Dealing with eyeglasses that fog up every time you wear a face mask is only one of many challenges we are living with these days due to Covid-19. If there is anything we can to help you or your loved one cope during this difficult time, please contact our in-home health care consultant.