Does a gauze bandage help or not? What does a gauze bandage actually protect against?

A gauze bandage on the face is the simplest and most affordable personal means of protecting the respiratory tract. Unlike pharmaceutical disposable masks made of polymer fibers, gauze bandages are reusable, so their use is more cost-effective. In addition, such a means of protection can be easily made independently at home.

What does a gauze bandage protect against?

The main purpose of a gauze bandage is to protect the respiratory system from pathogenic viruses and bacteria that spread through airborne droplets along with particles of saliva of a sick person when talking, coughing, etc. In this way, you can prevent infection by staying in potentially dangerous places - public transport, clinic, supermarket, etc. Also, using a gauze bandage, patients with respiratory diseases can protect others from contracting the infection.

Gauze dressings protect not only from infectious agents, but can also be used in the absence of a respirator or gas mask to protect against:

• carbon monoxide, smog, dust (pre-moisten with water);
• chlorine vapor (pre-moisten in a two percent solution of baking soda);
• ammonia vapor (pre-moisten in a five percent solution of acetic acid).

How to make a gauze bandage?

Before making a gauze bandage, you need to learn how to choose high-quality starting material. The gauze must be of sufficient density to provide the necessary protection to the respiratory tract, allow air to pass through and allow the skin to breathe. Namely, this figure should be 36 g/m°. If the packaging does not indicate what the density of the gauze is, you can weigh it: a piece measuring 0.9 x 5 m should weigh 162 g. To increase the effectiveness of the gauze dressing, it is also advisable to use cotton wool in its manufacture. High-quality cotton wool should not generate dust when torn off, have lumps, or be bleached with chlorine.

There are several ways to make a gauze bandage. Let's consider the stages of one of the standard options:

1. Take a piece of gauze measuring 60x90 cm.
2. In the central part of the gauze cut, place an even layer of cotton wool measuring 14x14 cm and approximately 2 cm thick, or a piece of gauze of the same diameter, folded in 5 - 6 layers.
3. Fold the upper and lower edges of the gauze piece so that you get a ribbon 90 cm long and 14 - 15 cm wide.
4. Cut each side fragment of the resulting tape in half lengthwise down to cotton wool (folded gauze), thus obtaining two pairs of ties - for the parietal part and the occipital part. The edges of the bandage can be hemmed.

Rules for wearing a gauze bandage

In season colds More and more people are seen with gauze bandages on their faces. Are these bandages necessary?

These means of protection have again become a fashionable thing during the epidemic. Are there any benefits from them? Protects gauze bandage, Yes or no?

— Do they protect against infection? Yes, but not 100%. When a patient coughs and sneezes, the mask traps droplets of saliva containing the virus. But there are also viral particles in exhaled air. For them, a mask is an unreliable barrier.

— When and who should wear them? For those who are sick and have a cough and runny nose, if they have to go to a clinic or other closed premises where there are a lot of people. Healthy - if someone nearby on a bus, subway, or store is coughing and sneezing violently.

— In what cases is a bandage useless and can even cause harm? On the street: in the cool air, viruses die anyway, and when walking, a mask limits the access of oxygen; due to its lack, dizziness and shortness of breath may begin.

And viruses can spread in tiny droplets of saliva through the air at a distance of up to 7 meters. Such a simple remedy as a gauze bandage, when correct use will serve as a reliable protective barrier for viruses and bacteria.

The material used to make a mask matters a lot. Synthetic material is a rather poor protector and can cause an allergic reaction. A high-quality gauze bandage mask is made of gauze, which allows air to pass through normally, allowing the skin to breathe without sweating. The greater the number of layers of the mask, the greater the degree of protection. The most acceptable number of layers would be 4 - 8.

An additional positive feature of a multi-layer gauze dressing made from natural material, is reusable. To restore its protective properties, just wash it laundry soap and iron well.

When using a gauze bandage, protection is provided against influenza, as well as against other diseases transmitted by airborne droplets. If you are sick, the protection you use will reduce the risk of infecting others with viral diseases.

A gauze bandage can be purchased at a pharmacy. The choice can be made among 4- and 6-ply reusable cotton products. For ease of use, there are bandages with ties and elastic bands. Your face won't sweat in them, and to reuse them you just need to iron them with a hot iron.

If you couldn’t stock up on a gauze bandage at the pharmacy, it’s easy to make it yourself. Making a cotton-gauze bandage will not take much time and will not require any special knowledge. To do this, you will need a piece of gauze 1 meter long and 60 centimeters wide. Having spread the gauze on the table, an even layer of cotton wool measuring 20 × 20 cm and approximately 1 - 2 cm thick is placed in the middle. There should be enough cotton wool so that it does not interfere with breathing and at the same time covers the mouth and nose. Now the gauze is folded on both sides along its entire length, covering the cotton layer. The ends of the gauze are cut by 25 - 30 cm on all sides to make straps for tying. For strength, the resulting bandage must be stitched with threads along the edges of the straps, on both sides of the cotton wool. The homemade bandage is ready. It needs to be changed every 3 - 4 hours. You can also use a wide medical bandage to make it.

The gauze bandage should be of such a size that it completely covers the nose and mouth. In this case, its lower part should tightly cover the chin, and the upper corners of the rectangular bandage should almost reach the ears. The top and bottom ties are tied at the back of the head, passing above and below the ears, respectively.

Do not hesitate to wear a bandage in transport and in any crowded places where there is a possibility of “catching” an infection. After all, timely prevention is much better than subsequent treatment. Protect yourself and your loved ones from colds in time.

IN winter period A flu bandage is becoming an essential item, so it must be available. Even if a person is healthy, he risks becoming infected in a public place.

When cold season approaches, you want to protect yourself from infections and other troubles. Many germs that sick people spread around themselves will not reach the new owner if a gauze bandage is worn on his face. Although all over the world it is customary for sick people to wear such an attribute, in our society everything is exactly the opposite. The patient spreads the bacilli, and those around them must protect themselves from this themselves. And in order to stay healthy, you need to thoroughly prepare for the upcoming period of the flu epidemic. This infection is dangerous because it causes serious complications, and therefore it is better not to catch it. It spreads rapidly; one sick person can infect an entire team in a matter of hours.

When cold weather sets in, pharmacies are crowded with people who want to buy not only protection against the flu, but medicines for it and its side effects. And everyone seemed to have forgotten that a simple gauze bandage on the face would have saved them. When the next TV news announces the beginning of an epidemic, it’s too late to run to the pharmacy for protective equipment; they are no longer there. You should worry in advance, in the fall, while the sky is generously pouring rain. In the summer, they are also not always on sale, especially if there are cases of smoke from forest fires.

Pharmacies offer products from different companies; there is a 4-layer flu bandage, reusable, and it can have three types of fastenings. 6-layer products are also sold, also reusable with convenient fastenings. There are three main types: with ties, when you need to tie the ends at the back. The ones with elastic bands are more convenient and easier to use. And better quality - voluminous. Reusable - this means that the headbands can be washed, ironed, after which they are ready to be worn again. You can wear them for no more than three hours; after this time, the gauze becomes saturated with microbes and no longer fulfills the role for which it was intended.

If you haven’t been able to buy a face bandage at any pharmacy, there is a way out, and it’s very simple. Get down to business yourself and prepare the item with your own hands. To do this, you will need a medical bandage, you need a wide one, 14 cm. As well as scissors, a needle and white thread. You can, of course, sew it with others, but it will not look aesthetically pleasing. A face bandage against the flu is made like this: the distance across the face from one ear to the other is measured, and several layers are folded according to this measurement. More layers mean better protection.

The edges are trimmed, but this must be done carefully, since the bandage is a free-flowing material. For more intensive protection, a layer of cotton wool can be placed in the center between the layers. After the “muzzle” is ready, you need to make ties for it. To do this, take a bandage approximately 30 cm long, maybe a little less. If it is the same width, 14 cm, then it can be cut in half lengthwise and each strip can also be folded in half lengthwise. Now also fold it in half lengthwise and cut it. After that, sew. It turned out 4 ribbons. All that remains is to sew them on the sides of the bandage. If you don’t want to bother with a bandage, you can sew on elastic bands; they will be conveniently attached behind the ears.

When a person is sick, he will not infect anyone if he has such a bandage on his face. And at the same time, it will protect its own respiratory organs from allergens and dust. By the way, when wet, such a bandage will perfectly protect you from the smoke of burning peat bogs in the summer. Such dressings can be washed, and this makes them very economically beneficial, as they can withstand about 10 washes. When they are ironed with a hot iron, they kill all the germs that high temperature die.

When someone in the family gets sick, the bandage can be worn at home, not only by the sick person, but also by the rest of the family. This increases the reliability of maintaining health many times over. Caring mothers can make such a bandage for their children and give them to school with them, but it is important that the child has enough bandages for the day; they should be changed every three hours.

By the way, for a self-made gauze bandage to be of higher quality, you need to choose a good bandage. To do this, you can ask the pharmacist to weigh packages of bandages of the same length and width on a scale. According to the standard, the weight of a bandage 14 cm wide and 7 m long should be 36 g. And this is without packaging. If the manufacturer is responsible for his products, he writes this indicator on the packaging. If there is no information on the density of the bandage, then you will have to weigh it. It is very common to find that the weight will be less than 30g, all the way up to 23.

Such a bandage is of no use at all; it will be simply impossible to sew it, since it is very “rare”, and the distance between the threads is too large. Even bandaging with such a bandage will be problematic. When making a bandage from a “lightweight” bandage, the edges will constantly move away following the needle, and there will be no protection from such a product, even if it can be somehow constructed.