tankasnowgod
Member
- Joined
- Jan 25, 2014
- Messages
- 8,131
The idea came up in another thread to use surgical masks to help re-breathe CO2. Since surgical masks are cheap, and can be used for other things, I decided to buy a pack. I began to wonder if there were any studies done on surgical masks and CO2.
I happened to find this one-
Preliminary report on surgical mask induced deoxygenation during major surgery
Basically, they looked at doctors performing surgery, and tested their oxygen saturation and pulse rates before and after doing surgery. Since masks are currently required when performing surgery, they used a unmasked control in similar rooms.
The link is to the full text, but basically, oxygen saturation went down about 1%, while pulse increased about 5-10 BPM after surgery.
From the discussion section-
Although decrease in both mental - physical performance and accuracy may sometimes be overcome by the motivation of the surgeon, increased fatigue is common in lengthy operations. The increased endogenous heat production of the surgeon, as well as many aspects of the operating room situation -even the close environment beneath the surgical mask- may also negatively affect the working condition of the surgeon.
Surgical masks may impose some measurable airway resistance, but it seems doubtful if this significantly increases the process of breathing. Although it might have appeared to be likely that hypoxemia results from the increased CO2 content of the inspired air due to the exhaled CO2 getting trapped beneath the surgical face mask; there has been no controlled study concerning with the effect of surgical masks on the level of blood oxygenation.
In this study we have measured the oxygen saturation of arterial pulsations (SpO2 ) by a pulse oximeter and found a statistically significant decrease in the blood O2 saturation level of the surgeons post operationally, which is not due to prolonged standing or stress.
The study paints the increased CO2 as negative, and may be during a task like surgery that is demanding, but I see this as very good news for those of use that want a cheap, easy, and safe way to increase CO2.
Personally, I've worn the mask during the day for about 40 minutes two days now. The first day, I noticed a burst of energy about 10 minutes after removing the mask. Today, my fingers got noticeably warmer when I had the mask on. I also wore it to bed last night. Wasn't that odd, not uncomfortable at all, although didn't notice anything different in the morning.
I find this way easier (and so far, more effective) than bag breathing.
I happened to find this one-
Preliminary report on surgical mask induced deoxygenation during major surgery
Basically, they looked at doctors performing surgery, and tested their oxygen saturation and pulse rates before and after doing surgery. Since masks are currently required when performing surgery, they used a unmasked control in similar rooms.
The link is to the full text, but basically, oxygen saturation went down about 1%, while pulse increased about 5-10 BPM after surgery.
From the discussion section-
Although decrease in both mental - physical performance and accuracy may sometimes be overcome by the motivation of the surgeon, increased fatigue is common in lengthy operations. The increased endogenous heat production of the surgeon, as well as many aspects of the operating room situation -even the close environment beneath the surgical mask- may also negatively affect the working condition of the surgeon.
Surgical masks may impose some measurable airway resistance, but it seems doubtful if this significantly increases the process of breathing. Although it might have appeared to be likely that hypoxemia results from the increased CO2 content of the inspired air due to the exhaled CO2 getting trapped beneath the surgical face mask; there has been no controlled study concerning with the effect of surgical masks on the level of blood oxygenation.
In this study we have measured the oxygen saturation of arterial pulsations (SpO2 ) by a pulse oximeter and found a statistically significant decrease in the blood O2 saturation level of the surgeons post operationally, which is not due to prolonged standing or stress.
The study paints the increased CO2 as negative, and may be during a task like surgery that is demanding, but I see this as very good news for those of use that want a cheap, easy, and safe way to increase CO2.
Personally, I've worn the mask during the day for about 40 minutes two days now. The first day, I noticed a burst of energy about 10 minutes after removing the mask. Today, my fingers got noticeably warmer when I had the mask on. I also wore it to bed last night. Wasn't that odd, not uncomfortable at all, although didn't notice anything different in the morning.
I find this way easier (and so far, more effective) than bag breathing.
