Okay, so this has the potential to sound very strange. I have noticed that at work the past couple months when a co-worker slips their mask down for a moment to take a drink, eat, readjust the mask, etc. That from the nose they just look strange almost deformed and it seems to be with all of them even the folks I knew before the pandemic their faces just look off.
I figures it's just becoming so ingrained to see the masks that seeing a full face is disarming. Is anyone else experiencing this? I really hope someone is that I'm not having a COVID psychotic break
I started a new job a few months ago. Some of my colleagues I am learning their faces because we have Zoom meetings... But, many of the other staff I work with are all scrub caps and masks.. the "identifying" features are how they fit in scrubs, their eyes, glasses(?) and visible hair... I'm having a hard time learning new people.
I arrived at my current clinic June1, I kept getting my front desk staff names mixed up for the first month, had to learn hairstyles, shoes, even now I listen for the way someone walks. The first time I saw my medical assistant’s face I didn’t recognize her, had been 6 weeks working with her! I’m high risk so wearing N95+ cloth mask. I wear a welders face shield that I can flip up as soon as I step away from people.
I don't even think about it any more but it was torture on my ears at first. I probably have calluses there. Now I can wear it many hours at a time without noticing it. When leaving the grocery store I forget it's even on sometimes and I'm that one driving alone in the car with his mask on.
I will say when I floated to covid or need an N95 I still hate that but get used to it.
I have noticed. Some coworkers were hired during pandemic, so I am not completely sure what they look like otherwise. But many looked warped to me. Like I am remembering them wrong or something.
When I wasn’t working from home, I was starting to get skin breakdown behind my ears, on the bridge of my nose, and the skin just below my eyes on my checks under the mask were starting to look like an eczema like rash-though I knew the cause was the mask-I didn’t manically have eczema on my face. Mask became intolerable. Couldn’t even breath in the damn thing.
As for my hands....several months later they are still recovering. I wore gloves to go vote in November-because they were actively bleeding. Doc originally thought that was eczema for years made worse by the hand sanitizer-but at $1000 a tube for medication and self isolating myself to the point everything is delivered to my door-the only extra hand washing now is after putting the groceries away, but I did that anyways before so......cracked bleeding fingers seem to be an added bonus to this who lurking covid thing. Weird.
But the faces looking different when the mask slips down. I know mine did after wearing one for too long and it was not pretty
Oops I think I accidentally started to quote someone? Sausage fingers LOL! But anyway yes, I have noticed that, too! Also I’ve realized there are a few people that I guess I never knew what they looked like, because when their mask comes off for a moment, I don’t recognize them. There are people I work with whose faces I’ve never seen, too, and it’s such a weird thing when you think about it.
I have noticed. Some coworkers were hired during pandemic, so I am not completely sure what they look like otherwise. But many looked warped to me. Like I am remembering them wrong or something.
Yes, when I see people with their masks off for the first time, their faces look warped! Often times I ask to see them with their mask off because it drives me crazy to not know what they look like. I remember people by face rather than name.
Very interesting...So this made me think of this fascinating TEDtalk we were assigned in my neuroscience course, and I'm pretty sure you're not experiencing something quite this vivid, but I think there is some sound information to be gained here!
PollywogNP, ADN, BSN, MSN, LPN, NP
237 Posts
I arrived at my current clinic June1, I kept getting my front desk staff names mixed up for the first month, had to learn hairstyles, shoes, even now I listen for the way someone walks. The first time I saw my medical assistant’s face I didn’t recognize her, had been 6 weeks working with her! I’m high risk so wearing N95+ cloth mask. I wear a welders face shield that I can flip up as soon as I step away from people.