I assisted at surgery occasionally for 30 years and initially wore a cloth or later a blue or green mask like the covid items, but with ties. About ten years ago there became more and more insistence on using a mask with a shield. In orthopaedics the bone saws do splatter a bit, and occasionally one would get a bit of spray on the face, so aesthetically there was some benefit.
While hospitals are perceived as clean, in reality they harbour the highest concentration of harmful organisms short of a shared addict's needle. The most effective protection is diligent hand washing with soap and water, and avoiding the places whenever possible.
I keep telling my wife that the masks are useless; she won't believe me. When we go out to a doctor's office we're required to wear them. I don't know why.
The worst part is that masking all day long almost certainly causes harm. Ignoring the skin issues, headaches are a clear indicator of a problem. Not to mention you can see the increased levels of CO2 intake within 30 seconds on a brain scan.
That is doing something, and it's not anything good.
I have to wonder what mask proponents would accept as "evidence for the absence of effectiveness." Isn't the repeated failure to show effectiveness, ipso facto proof that masks just don't work?
When the other half of the pairodocs was researching his series of articles on masking for respiratory viruses, he was surprised to learn that they don't even work when it comes to reducing surgical wound infections and that, in fact, surgical outcomes were slightly WORSE in some studies when surgeons were masked. It's another one of those things we didn't even think to question in medical school--it seemed so obvious because everyone believed it. So many red pill moments these past few years!
Masks are badges. Masks are the step before "vaccine passports." Think of the WWII movie stereotype of Nazi "Show me your papers."
Initial opposition to the US Social Security program--in 1930s--was fear of a national ID system. So look what's happened in the US: Social Security numbers are the de facto national ID system.
Masks identify who will obey.
Yesterday, I counted 8 "maskateers" at the supermarket.
I’ll be 83 YO soon and went to dental school in the 1960s. No one wore masks or gloves back then. I took my California boards at UCSF and no one wore masks or gloves. Then in the’80s HIV hit and everyone started to wear masks and gloves. Did masks and gloves make a difference? I don’t know. As far as getting the flu there was no difference for me personally. It was perceived to be the right thing to do so everyone wore masks and gloves.
"The practice of veiling is especially associated with women and sacred objects, though in some cultures, it is men, rather than women, who are expected to wear a veil. Besides its enduring religious significance, veiling continues to play a role in some modern secular contexts..."
When Mask Hysteria started rolling out March 2020 my wife and her colleagues were the most skeptical of masks as, being surgeons, they knew exactly what they were and were not good for. Slicing someone open and not getting their blood all over your face? Masks worked great.
It was delighted to see Katelyn Jetelina "Your Local Epidemiologist" argue in December "I keep thinking of 'why does my surgeon wear a mask when I am in surgery' you know, it must do something, it has to work".
For some reason she never responded to my reply even though she reads all comments.
I try to remember how I would think about masks back in 2019. All that comes to memory is 1) the dentist, which was nice so I wouldn't inhale his breath directly (smell) and 2) surgeons, who presumably did it as a matter of uniform, like their scrubs. Never thought much of it
Now... airports literally make my eyes hurt. I need to start flying private.
I just re-watched the film "From Hell" the other day. SPOILER . . . This imagining of the story of Jack the Ripper reveals the culprit to be a psychopathic free-mason surgeon acting to protect the crown's secret of a syphilitic prince. Lobotomy procedures play a prominent role. When I have occasion to enter the medical / hospital setting, the mask wearing ritual seems reminiscent of the work of doctors--all members of a fraternal society--demonstrating the miracle of the lobotomy "cure" in a packed surgical theater.
So, they are a bit like wearing white coats, or hanging a stethoscope around the neck.
The kind word is "tradition".
But when an alleged effect is associated, then a better word is "superstition".
Here in Canada, nurses twice won court cases (2015,2018) against masking in hospitals based on evidence masks did not prevent spread of influenza. Strange how covid became the catalyst for the end of evidence based science. https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/ona-wins-second-decision-on-unreasonable-and-illogical-vaccinate-or-mask-influenza-policies-692687881.html
I assisted at surgery occasionally for 30 years and initially wore a cloth or later a blue or green mask like the covid items, but with ties. About ten years ago there became more and more insistence on using a mask with a shield. In orthopaedics the bone saws do splatter a bit, and occasionally one would get a bit of spray on the face, so aesthetically there was some benefit.
While hospitals are perceived as clean, in reality they harbour the highest concentration of harmful organisms short of a shared addict's needle. The most effective protection is diligent hand washing with soap and water, and avoiding the places whenever possible.
Not to mention, like your photo, the dirty, old masks which will never totally decay that are now littering the entire world.
As a matter of fact, this study published in 1982 showed that infection rates were much lower when no masks were worn:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2493952/pdf/annrcse01509-0009.pdf
But hey, why save lives and avoid suffering as long as you can maintain the image?
I'm a bit lazy to search for it, but you can find some interesting comments back and forth in later publications.
I keep telling my wife that the masks are useless; she won't believe me. When we go out to a doctor's office we're required to wear them. I don't know why.
The worst part is that masking all day long almost certainly causes harm. Ignoring the skin issues, headaches are a clear indicator of a problem. Not to mention you can see the increased levels of CO2 intake within 30 seconds on a brain scan.
That is doing something, and it's not anything good.
I have to wonder what mask proponents would accept as "evidence for the absence of effectiveness." Isn't the repeated failure to show effectiveness, ipso facto proof that masks just don't work?
When the other half of the pairodocs was researching his series of articles on masking for respiratory viruses, he was surprised to learn that they don't even work when it comes to reducing surgical wound infections and that, in fact, surgical outcomes were slightly WORSE in some studies when surgeons were masked. It's another one of those things we didn't even think to question in medical school--it seemed so obvious because everyone believed it. So many red pill moments these past few years!
Masks are badges. Masks are the step before "vaccine passports." Think of the WWII movie stereotype of Nazi "Show me your papers."
Initial opposition to the US Social Security program--in 1930s--was fear of a national ID system. So look what's happened in the US: Social Security numbers are the de facto national ID system.
Masks identify who will obey.
Yesterday, I counted 8 "maskateers" at the supermarket.
Great post!
Every day, I am amazed at the # of people wearing masks, whether food shopping, or alone in their vehicle.
I am not confrontational, but I also do not suffer fools gladly.
But I do read, and research...
I’ll be 83 YO soon and went to dental school in the 1960s. No one wore masks or gloves back then. I took my California boards at UCSF and no one wore masks or gloves. Then in the’80s HIV hit and everyone started to wear masks and gloves. Did masks and gloves make a difference? I don’t know. As far as getting the flu there was no difference for me personally. It was perceived to be the right thing to do so everyone wore masks and gloves.
"The practice of veiling is especially associated with women and sacred objects, though in some cultures, it is men, rather than women, who are expected to wear a veil. Besides its enduring religious significance, veiling continues to play a role in some modern secular contexts..."
When Mask Hysteria started rolling out March 2020 my wife and her colleagues were the most skeptical of masks as, being surgeons, they knew exactly what they were and were not good for. Slicing someone open and not getting their blood all over your face? Masks worked great.
It was delighted to see Katelyn Jetelina "Your Local Epidemiologist" argue in December "I keep thinking of 'why does my surgeon wear a mask when I am in surgery' you know, it must do something, it has to work".
For some reason she never responded to my reply even though she reads all comments.
https://archive.ph/XLBwb#selection-563.38-563.161
archived picture I referenced
https://imgur.io/a/X2ePJIR
I try to remember how I would think about masks back in 2019. All that comes to memory is 1) the dentist, which was nice so I wouldn't inhale his breath directly (smell) and 2) surgeons, who presumably did it as a matter of uniform, like their scrubs. Never thought much of it
Now... airports literally make my eyes hurt. I need to start flying private.
I just re-watched the film "From Hell" the other day. SPOILER . . . This imagining of the story of Jack the Ripper reveals the culprit to be a psychopathic free-mason surgeon acting to protect the crown's secret of a syphilitic prince. Lobotomy procedures play a prominent role. When I have occasion to enter the medical / hospital setting, the mask wearing ritual seems reminiscent of the work of doctors--all members of a fraternal society--demonstrating the miracle of the lobotomy "cure" in a packed surgical theater.