Just stumbled upon this thread and thought I’d ask a quick question. My face is too small for those blue surgical masks. I’ve tried the tricks to make them smaller but I still don’t love the fit. I was at an urgent care the other day and they had light yellow surgical masks that had the same size mask but shorter straps. Fit perfectly! I asked the front desk and the nurses what kind they were but they couldn’t find the boxes to give me the brand. Anyone have any ideas? I’ve googled it of course but can’t seem to find them.
I don’t know why this is not more well known. So our K-12 masking is theater? Most of us in blue surgical masks but plenty in cloth masks too. Why are we bothering? No way we are going to get everyone in an N95.
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You may want to look into brands (e.g. Walgreens) that sell different sizes of masks.
Hi, Homie! Hey, I guess this goes back to the earliest days of your thread, “Colleges in the 2021-2022 Academic Year & Coronavirus (Parts 1 and 2)”, now entering its third year. Mask-wearing had a two-pronged goal: protection from virus coming at you and preventing your exhaled air from infecting others. It’s like coughing in public. Is doing so into the crook of your elbow (or, preferably into a tissue) 100% fool-proof? I don’t think anyone thinks that it is. It’s about harm-reduction; it’s about everybody reducing the viral load by as much as possible.
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That’s the tricky thing with antibody levels, no one knows for sure what the cutoff is but yours sounds high so I think you are good. With the caveat that some people with high antibody titers still go to the hospital and die because the immune system is complex and there are other components that still need to work properly. There will always be around 10% of the population, maybe less, where we still don’t know why something is happening the way it does. Everyone is still learning. But almost everyone in the hospital is either unvaccinated or not boosted. If you’re vaccinated, boosted, have high antibodies and masking and socially distancing, you’re probably good. Though I know several (10-20) physicians who have gotten their 4th dose, so I am still considering.
We can’t boost our way out of preventing getting disease. For that we need a nasal vaccine (to produce secretory IgA) which we don’t have yet.
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Thanks. Over two years I’ve tried a LOT of masks including children’s versions. Some are ok but these yellow ones were perfect! Wild goose chase I know. I might have to go back there and ask again.
True. I have to think a surgical mask, even if it’s not a perfect fit, is better than nothing. I guess we will see how this works starting tomorrow when we go back to school.
@homerdog lots of yellow mask choices on Amazon…do any of these exactly match what you tried?
Just Google yellow face masks Amazon. Can’t put the link here for some reason…
I also have a narrow small face. I need to knot the ear loops to a shorter length to make them work.
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Thanks. I saw a ton on amazon too but none said the straps were on the short side when I looked at the comments. I think I’m going to call the urgent care and see if they have an office manager who can help!
Can you knot the ear loops to make what you have shorter? That’s what I do.
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I ordered loops similar to these and use them on our masks to get a better fit. I’ve been pleased. I am not endorsing this particular product… I randomly grabbed a screenshot from Amazon to give you an example of what we ordered.
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I can answer both questions here. Like I said, I wear the masks provided by the hospital, mostly blue, some bigger than others. Occasionally the yellow ones pop up. I like those best since they’re tighter on my face. I have never checked the manufacturer on the box but when I see them again, I will and let you know. It could be a while tho, since it’s mostly the blue ones.
Cloth masks stopped being promoted a long time ago, once surgical masks were easily accessible. The holes are too large and the virus passes through unimpeded. Same thing with the surgical masks, though hopefully the viral load will be reduced somewhat. I’ve never watched the filtration studies to see the difference. N95 is definitely the best in preventing infection, though there are too many stories of people who I know are meticulous in not exposing themselves, wearing only high quality N95s, washing, not going out, etc, who still catch it.
Until we get a nasal vaccine, the best we can do is vaccine, boost, wash, socially distance, and choose the mask that you feel most comfortable with. Any mask is better than none.
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Yes but it still gaps and I know the trick to tuck in the sides but the blue masks still don’t fit as well as these lovely yellow ones. Lol.
The yellow ones are my favorite too.
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Well, now I am really curious about these yellow ones! Hopefully one of you find a manufacturer and will share with the rest of us. 
I went downstairs to see if I had any yellow ones to see if they contained any inscriptions on them. I leave the masks in my car so a long time ago when a box was empty I grabbed it to bring home to put these extra masks in. Guess what? It was one of the yellow ones.
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Yea!! CC is the place to go for helpful advice. Lol. Now to find them online…
https://athome.medline.com/en/medline-3-ply-procedure-face-mask-with-earloops-50ct-non27122z
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Fibers aren’t created equally when it comes to lung pathology. If it’s a good mask, it shouldn’t be a problem. If it was then surgeons and nurses would all have more lung problems. They don’t.
That said, how do you define good? For me if a mask is a N95 from a US company (3M, Halyard, Prestige Ameritech, etc.) or a Korean KF94 (LG, Bluna, BOTN, Evergreen, etc.) I feel confident. I don’t have the same confidence in KN95. It doesn’t mean they’ll be problematic, but China doesn’t regulate them as tightly.
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It was probably a Halyard if it wasn’t a Medline.
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These yellow ones look exactly like the blue ones.