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In places around the world, people are told or encouraged to wear masks when they are out. In some places, he is also ordered to stay at home, being able to leave the house for only essential things, including exercise.
These instructions create a dilemma. Should people wear masks if they are exercising, engaging in strenuous or strenuous physical activity? Wouldn’t wearing a cover over your mouth and nose make it harder to breathe at a time when you’re already working harder than usual to draw air into your lungs?
Since the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, scientists and health authorities have had serious concerns about it. The official opinion of the World Health Organization argues that people “should NOT wear masks during exercise, as masks can reduce the ability to breathe comfortably.”
However, it may not be that simple.
A new review of the effects of masks on the cardiorespiratory system – heart, blood vessels, and lungs – during exercise suggests that most people should actually be able to breathe well with a mask during exercise, although they may not always be feel that way.
“There may be a greater perceived exertion with the activity, but the effects of wearing a mask on breathing work, on gases such as oxygen and CO2 in the blood, or other physiological parameters, are small, often too small to detect,” he says. exercise physiologist Susan Hopkins of the University of California at San Diego (UCSD).
In the new study, Hopkins and his coauthors examined the existing scientific literature by examining the effects of different face linings on the cardiorespiratory response during physical activity, considering dozens of different studies, and including different types of masks, including fabric linings for face, surgical masks, N95 respirators and industrial respirators.
The researchers recognize that the literature directly evaluating this problem is evolving and that further studies are still needed.
However, they say current evidence suggests that masks worn by healthy people during exercise don’t appear to have a significant impact on lung function and oxygen intake – despite the minimal resistance to airflow they create – which means that wearing a mask or respirator during exercise is unlikely to cause harm.
However, wheezing (the feeling of shortness of breath) and other forms of discomfort can potentially increase when people exercise and wear masks, especially if they are not used to wearing masks.
“Wearing a face mask can be uncomfortable,” says Hopkins.
“There may be small increases in breathing resistance. You can breathe in warmer, slightly enriched CO2 air again. And if you exercise, the mask can make your face hot and sweaty. But these are sensory perceptions. They don’t impact function. cardiopulmonary in healthy people “.
The researchers say the same finding appears to apply to both young and old, regardless of gender, but point out that patients with severe cardiopulmonary disease could be an exception, due to their higher chances of experiencing exertional dyspnea.
That discomfort could serve as a basis for seeking exemptions from mask regulations for such individuals, the researchers suggest, but it’s something that also needs to be weighed against the risks of not wearing masks, which could end up being much more serious.
“In these cases, these people may feel too uncomfortable to exercise, and this should be discussed with their doctor,” Hopkins says.
“However, the fact that these people are at great risk should they contract COVID-19 must also be considered.”
For the rest of us, the findings – which are independently supported by a recent experiment conducted by Canadian researchers – mean we shouldn’t worry too much about the discomfort of wearing masks while exercising.
Sure, it doesn’t look great, but it really beats the alternative.
The results are reported in Annals of the American Thoracic Society.
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