Exercise and face masks a toxic mix

THE wearing of face masks during the Covid-19 pandemic is compromising people’s health, especially those who lead an active lifestyle.

Apart from the general discomfort of having your face covered for extended periods of time, joggers and walkers who took to the streets following the easing of the lockdown regulations in May, reported worrying symptoms.

And although there is no evidence that the death from a heart attack of a local schoolboy recently during a run with a mask on can necessarily be linked directly to this factor, there is enough medical opinion that exercise while wearing masks is a dangerous toxic mix.

The body’s immune system needs continuous oxygen supply to work at optimum level – especially now during the current coronavirus epidemic when hypoxia (lack

of adequate oxygen supply) and pulmonary edema (congestive heart failure) have become serious risk factors.

During lockdown, breathing in harmful carbon dioxide (CO2) has greatly increased.

In simple terms, with a mask on you breathe in much less oxygen and much more harmful carbon dioxide which is trapped in front of your mouth and nose when you exhale.

So, while regulations determine we have to wear masks in public or at our workplaces, medical opinion is that one should not run, walk briskly or do other exercises while wearing a mask. It is regarded as counterproductive. Some doctors say if, for safety reasons, you don’t want to exercise without a mask, it is actually healthier not to exercise at all, since doing so with a mask causes more harm to your body than the benefits derived from exercise.

With training, one’s heart tempo obviously shoots up and the demand for oxygen in the blood increases significantly.

But a mask prevents the inhalation of sufficient oxygen supply, putting further strain on the body.

And to make matters worse, instead of taking in more oxygen, the athlete continues to inhale even more toxic carbon dioxide trapped in the mask.

Hypoxia is the result.

There have even been reports of motorists who died in accidents after fainting because they wore their face masks while driving in their vehicles with already limited oxygen present. Medics now suggest that one should not wear masks while driving or when in the safety of one’s home.

But what is clear is that there is enough medical evidence to suggest that mask wearing and exercising should be avoided at all costs.

The ZO approached three local doctors for their opinion.

All agreed it would be better not to exercise at all, rather than doing so with a mask on as it could pose higher life-threatening risks.

‘Wearing a mask already causes claustrophobia for some people, but severely limits oxygen flow into the body while increasing carbon dioxide intake, which is dangerous,’ was the unanimous opinion.

‘When exercising, the heart rate increases, and with it blood flow. With a mask on, people start gasping for air and then breathe in even more toxic carbon dioxide, with serious consequences likely.