For many of us, face masks have become an essential part of everyday life thanks to the coronavirus. But regularly wearing one can have an unfortunate side-effect: mask-induced acne, aka "maskne".
[2020, P. Bradford Smith et al., “A scoping review of surgical masks and N95 filtering facepiece respirators: Learning from the past to guide the future of dentistry”, in Safety Science, volume 131, →DOI:
These bacteria can fuel skin irritations and infections, now known as maskne in the popular press[…]]
As if transitioning from summer to winter wasn't bad enough for our skin, "mask-ne" has become a fixture for many of us. The stubborn patches of dry skin, painful breakouts and general feeling of discomfort are now common for many people wearing protective face masks, and since those masks aren't going anywhere any time soon, we're all trying to figure out how to soothe it.
L'acne da mascherina o maskne è l'esito di una serie di fattori: attrito costante, umidità derivante dagli atti respiratori e crescita eccessiva di batteri e/o lieviti.
Acne from masks or maskne is the result of several factors: constant friction, humidity resulting from breathing, and excessive growth of bacteria or yeast.
Le cause del maskne sono facilmente intuibili: l’utilizzo costante della mascherina limita l’ossigenazione nella zona inferiore del viso, sotto il naso, e favorisce l’occlusione dei pori.
The cause of maskne is easily guessed: constant wearing of masks limits oxygen in the lower part of the face, below the nose, and encourages obstruction of pores.
2021 June 8, Maria Luisa Asta, “Maskne. Tutto quello che devi sapere sulle dermatiti da mascherina. Cause e rimedi”, in Infermieristica Mente[3]:
Quanto è comune la "maskne"? Le dermatosi facciali correlate ai DPI sono state ben descritte, ma i dati sulla loro prevalenza sono limitati e spesso viene utilizzata una terminologia descrittiva piuttosto che diagnosi specifiche.
How common is "maskne"? PPE-related facial dermatoses have been well described, but data on prevalence has been limited, and reports often use descriptive terminology rather than specific diagnoses.
