try to stay in sunlight. it kills many viruses and bacteria.
Wear a mask and GTFO when you can. If it’s an airplane you can’t really do anything but hope and be extra cautious not to touch your face (a mask can help with this)… if it’s a bus or something then just GTFO unless it’s really low frequency and catch the next.
Knowing the type of area would help.
You could use the usual face mask and a nose spray with carragelose.
As everyone else is saying, wear a mask if you have one.
But it seems like the question you’re directly asking is more about the fluid flow of air in the room. With your suggestion of alternating short/long breaths, you might be imagining that you can blow the germs away and then breathe in the clear space left behind, but of course it doesn’t work that way. Breathing quickly creates more turbulence, which stirs up the air and sucks in more air from further away—both of which increase your risk. (Reducing turbulence from your breath is the second function of a mask, besides filtering out particles.) In the best-case scenario, the germs are in large aerosolized droplets which will settle out of the air quickly, but only if the air is still—so you’d want to breathe softly and move as little as possible. (And the droplets can still be infectious after they fall, so wash your hands after touching anything as well.)
Thank you for addressing my question. I’m aware of masks, lol. Any idea about nose vs. mouth breathing? Nose hairs filter some stuff, but then these aerosolized droplets are in my nose, so maybe that’s worse?
Regarding short vs long breaths, I was kind of wondering if short breaths might limit how much virus material was inhaled. Restricting oxygen flow might be better if the exposure was short term.
But since there’s overwhelming evidence masks work and will prevent (most likely) what you want to prevent…why even try something else? Unless you have a condition that prevents it, in which case, I’m sorry and shouldn’t assume you can wear one.
Because I don’t always have an N95 mask on my person? Because I can’t always 100% control my environment, but I can almost always exercise some control over how I breathe?
I guess that’s fair.
I’ve just adapted to always having a mask on my person. In a pocket or bag.
But if there is some sort of breathing technique that works (other than not breathing, but sort of doubt) go for it.
I just wanted to state my opinion and I guess my problem solving technique (the easiest and most effective/reliable option is usually best) but everyone has their own, and I understand that.
But if there is some sort of breathing technique that works
The purpose of this post was to try to find an answer to this question
Well, get some covid masks in your bag at all time. Like a lot of us are doing since many years now… Don’t play with your health
I probably heard most of this from the Magic Schoolbus, so don’t take me as a concrete source of truth.
My intuition says that you’re at a lower risk by breathing through your nose. How much lower, I can’t say, it might be marginal.
The mucus in your nose is part of the immune system. It’s designed to trap foreign particles and prevent them from getting deeper into your respiratory system.
So with that in mind, I’d think that blowing your nose after exposure could be a safe bet. But make sure to wash your hands before you touch your face. Maybe after too.
And the droplets can still be infectious after they fall, so wash your hands after touching anything as well.
And wash your hands after leaving the area as well, because some of those droplets will have landed on your hands.
If you use a public bathroom to wash your hands, assume the sick person was in there earlier and touched the faucets, soap dispenser, towel dispenser, and door handle: get towels first (plus one extra), get the soap on one hand, then turn on the water and wash your hands. Dry your hands and turn the water off with the paper towel, then use the spare paper towel to open the door.
I remember learning in school that breathing through the nose is healthier than through the mouth because your nose is capable of filtering the air to some extent, some particles are going to get stuck in your nose rather than travelling further inside your body.
I think you’ll be better off standing downwind from them to get the least contaminated air from their direction. I’m not sure if short breathes will work because that will just make you inhale more often. My completely non-scienctific take would be to stand behind them and/or avoid standing downwind, then take a breath and hold it as long as you can, before slowly exhaling; then repeat the process until you can get out of there.
I typically will just hold my breath (I can do that for several minutes thanks to all the freediving I used to do) and then when I’m clear of them I’ll start breathing again. If you absolutely cannot do that for whatever reason, your nose has these little hairs that will trap some of the germs like a filter.
When someones sneezes or coughs it’ll produce an aerosol similar to spraying Febreze in one direction, the larger droplets reaching approximately 6 feet/2 meters. It’ll be more concentrated in the direction they coughed or sneezed, and most concentrated right next to them. This can be affected by wind, so try to avoid standing directly downwind of someone who is coughing or sneezing.
Taking shorter breaths would mean less contaminated air is entering your body per breath (and less CO2 is leaving) but you also need that air and also to remove CO2, so after a while your body would start to make you breathe faster or deeper to compensate. Of course, shallow breathing or not wouldn’t matter as much as wearing a mask will.
Yeah whenever someone near me coughs or sneezes I hold my breath and exhale until I’m past them, maybe it’s not effective I’m not sure but it makes me feel better than breathing in air full of sneeze particles
It is effective, since you avoid breathing in the by far most concentrated aerosol.
I do this and always thought i would be exaggerating. Also, it’s pretty automatic, someone sneezes, i stop breathing until a few steps away.
if someone coughs or sneezes in the same room as you, hold your breathe for 10-15 seconds if you can. some airbornes are floating around even longer than that but its something.
True for someone flushing when you’re in the office bathroom too?
You can wear a mask. I bring one with me on public transit or other places I expect a lot of people in close proximity.
Wear a mask and wash your hands often?
Breathe in through your eyes and breathe out through your ass.
I think it’s opposite of that for runny noses.
Instructions unclear, need new underwear now.
Offer them a mask.
Wear your mask
Open the window
Get away from them ASAP
Don’t touch your face or mucous membranes, wash your hands as soon as you can
There are also nasal sprays that are supposed to aid in the blocking of respiratory viruses. Pair that with a mask. Breath as slowly as possible (no gasps, laughs, or yawns) and only through your nose.
Wow, thank you! This is by far the most helpful answer. I will take a stab at grokking this paper.
