Is fogging of goggles as part of personal protective equipment (PPE) troublesome for you while performing surgery during Covid Crisis? How do you deal with it?
https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/worker-health-safety-us/personal-protective-equipment/scotchgard-eyewear/
Anybody having experience with that?
before putting on, the inner surface of the glasses is rubbed with dry soap, then rubbed with a soft cloth, this helps the glasses do not fog up for some time
They are uncomfortable but it is important to wear them.
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Fogging of the googles can be solved with a plaster that makes the mask adherent to the skin, or with anti-fog products. Wearing googles is really important as stated in the following article:
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It is essential to make the top part of the mask resting on the nasal bridge and cheek area to be air tight with a skin friendly adhesive plaster, so that exhaled air does not come out from the mask and fog the goggles. The goggles should rest on a plaster strip, sealing off the air from the mask completely.
It's a difficulty situation. I tried putting adhesive plaster all round the N 95 mask edge and skin, so that no exhale air can't escape in-between the mask and face skin. It reduces to some extant but still there is fogging.
If the plaster is not 'air leak proof', then, the seal by the plaster (micropore / opsite branded plasters are good) is not effective. The plaster has to be applied from the nasal bridge to across the cheek. As the natural uneven surface would prevent an air tight plaster application, this needs to be also taken into consideration. Also, the goggles (eg branded ones like 3M) should have a seal and elastic band to go around the head to maintain 'tight fit'.
Krishna Kumar Govindarajan thanks for your comments. The un even surface may be a cause of air leak. Will look at it next time. We are using the same goggles multiple times after disinfection. That may also contributing to it.
I think the most important thing is the Fit Test, if it works then rest of the maneuvers are going to hold, otherwise all would fail.
Talat Waseem, you need to make sure there isn't a gap at the bridge e of the nose where air escapes to fog up the glasses.
It also depends on the mask, material, and the facial anatomy of the wearer.
Despite trying your best to prevent any air leak, fogging does take place eventually. Below mentioned is a evidence based study wherein gently washing your goggles with a detergent based product before application prevents fogging.
https://doi.org/10.1308/rcsann.2011.93.2.168b
https://youtu.be/L_bncNnjV5k
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/346400067_Impact_of_Personal_Protective_Equipment_on_Surgeon's_Performance_during_COVID-19_Crisis_Qualitative_Exploration_of_Challenges_and_Solutions