Dentist's 60-Second Hack to Make Face Masks Fit Better Is Going Viral
Updated July 9 2020, 8:43 a.m. ET
We'll most likely be wearing masks as part of our everyday lives for a while to come. But for those of us who didn't wear masks regularly, they can be pretty annoying.
Anyone who wears glasses will know just how hard it can be to see as the hot breath coming out of your mask fogs up your lenses. And for people with smaller faces, masks can be difficult to wear and potentially counter-productive if they fit too loosely.
Thankfully for us novices, dentist Olivia Cuid, M.D., has been wearing surgical masks on a pretty much daily basis for years. She recently took to TikTok to share a "hack" that makes face coverings fit better, which not only stops the mask from sliding down your face but also offers you more protection.
“In absence of N95s, this might be a good alternative,” Cuid explains in the video. Here are the steps for her mask hack:
- Fold your mask in half.
- Tie a knot with the ear loops on each side, as close to the mask as you can get.
- Open the mask back up
- There should be an opening next to each ear loop, tuck those underneath the ear loops.
- Voila! You should now have a better fitting mask.
In case you're a visual learner, here's Cuid pulling the trick off herself.
People were very thankful for the pointers.
"What a clever idea," one user wrote. "Thank you so much. I'm in the med field and am very uncomfy going grocery shopping with disposable masks. Brilliant."
Another added: "25 years of hygiene and I just learned this year how to do it. I have a small face and I would always fog my glasses."
While one user concluded: "Thanks, I will give that info my older 83 & 84-year-old patients."
If an 83 and 84-year-old are wearing masks, so can you!