Live data from Hacker News

Why Asians wear surgical masks in public (2014)

qz.com

11–20 of 108 posts

Re: Why Asians wear surgical masks in public (2014)

#11

I often wear a mask during the Winter months in London too. Mostly because the majority of people on the tube are absolute disgusting pigs. They cough and sneeze without holding their hand in front of their face or making any other attempt to cover it up.

Sneezing in their hand helps to spread it to everything they touch. The best thing would be to cough/sneeze in the arm.

Re: Why Asians wear surgical masks in public (2014)

#12
post #10

Here in Vietnam they also use it to cover their faces from the sun. Having a white skin is the beauty ideal.

Well also the dust particles everywhere, which literally give you lung cancer.

Saigon and Hanoi can have very high AQI (it's no Beijing, but still dangerous)

Re: Why Asians wear surgical masks in public (2014)

#13

Some anecdotal experience: I travel to Asia for vacations and majority of the time, I catch a minor cold. The endless coughing and runny nose can really sap my energy. A friend suggested wearing a mask. Once I did, the air I was breathing became warmer and my throat and lungs felt less dry. It really helped a lot. I was glad there were so many others around me wearing masks so I didn’t stand out at all.

I have nasal allergy. Sometimes the allergy manifests itself persistently, but as soon as I put on a surgical mask, the runny nose and irritation just stops completely.

Re: Why Asians wear surgical masks in public (2014)

#15

Surgical masks don't protect you against airborne viruses, but if you wear one when you have a cold it does help protect other people from viruses in your snot/water particles. The facts about this are fairly well known in Japan now (although there may still be people who wear masks in the misguided hope that they won't catch other people's colds despite), so it's not very accurate to try to imply that use of surgica…

And if ever you visit Japan, you’ll see a significant number of people pull down their masks to unleash their coughs and sneezes completely uncovered in a crowded area. Covering coughs and sneezes isn’t really a concept here, and when it’s done, it’s done with bare hands which most people don’t wash during their bathroom visits.

People wear masks here during pollen season or handling dusty/dirty things, to indicate to others that they may be sick, or to soak up their runny nose drippings. But for the most part, like many aspects of society, they serve only a decorative purpose.

Re: Why Asians wear surgical masks in public (2014)

#16
post #12
post #10

Here in Vietnam they also use it to cover their faces from the sun. Having a white skin is the beauty ideal.

Well also the dust particles everywhere, which literally give you lung cancer. Saigon and Hanoi can have very high AQI (it's no Beijing, but still dangerous)

Surgical masks don't protect from PM2.5 particles.

Re: Why Asians wear surgical masks in public (2014)

#17
Something that shocked me while visiting Korea was a friend explaining to me that a mask is the only way for her to go out without makeup.

The societal pressure on appearance is so high, that just going to the grocery shopping without makeup is seen a socially unacceptable. The simplest way around it is to hide your face, and the best way to do so is to wear a surgical mask.

On a side note, in Korea, this is not reserved to women, lot of men wear makeup as well.

Re: Why Asians wear surgical masks in public (2014)

#18

Surgical masks don't protect you against airborne viruses, but if you wear one when you have a cold it does help protect other people from viruses in your snot/water particles. The facts about this are fairly well known in Japan now (although there may still be people who wear masks in the misguided hope that they won't catch other people's colds despite), so it's not very accurate to try to imply that use of surgica…

They also serve privacy purposes and have also become a rather cool fashion accessory:

[0] http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=face+mask+fashion

I think they will go quite nicely with decorated AR glasses once those become commonplace, for a combination that would thwart mass face-detection once that's commonplace as well.

Re: Why Asians wear surgical masks in public (2014)

#19
post #16
post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well also the dust particles everywhere, which literally give you lung cancer. Saigon and Hanoi can have very high AQI (it's no Beijing, but still dangerous)

Surgical masks don't protect from PM2.5 particles.

yeah you are right. (I am in VN and I wear KN95-certified mask, that does protect against those.)

Re: Why Asians wear surgical masks in public (2014)

#20

Some anecdotal experience: I travel to Asia for vacations and majority of the time, I catch a minor cold. The endless coughing and runny nose can really sap my energy. A friend suggested wearing a mask. Once I did, the air I was breathing became warmer and my throat and lungs felt less dry. It really helped a lot. I was glad there were so many others around me wearing masks so I didn’t stand out at all.

This is actually one of the reasons: to prevent the wind and cold from entering the body [1]

[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traditional_Chinese_medicine#S...

Post reply on HN