Masking has become a pretty emotional issue. Hundreds of millions around the world have adopted this new “fashion” with relatively little resistance. To oppose, or even restrict one’s compliance with it, can incite angry confrontations with people who only know what they’ve been programmed to believe by the media. For example a client recently told me about walking outdoors with a friend and having some idiot (who wasn’t even close to her) screaming at her for not wearing a mask. This kind of nonsense has become pathological.

There’s probably more nonsense per square inch on masking than about any subject I know of. Most have “drunk the Kool-Aid,” so to speak, adopting masking as practically a religion. Having said that, I am not an “anti-masking crusader,” as I shared with one person, “This isn’t a hill I am willing to die on.” Much of what the average person believes about masks is untrue, but I am willing to wear a mask simply to make people around me more comfortable while I attempt to gently educate those within my circle.

There is a lot of contradictory information on masks and their value, so I have to humbly approach this subject. I can’t and won’t make an absolute statement that masks have no value, but I will note solid research that reveals their limitations and potential health risks. Ultimately, you have to decide the extent you are willing to participate in masking. Here’s the best fact summary I can give at this point, summarized in a brochure by Russell Blaylock, MD of the Blaylock Wellness Report from Citizens for Free Speech (www.CitizensForFreeSpeech.org) that was recently passed on to me by a customer:

1. Does Wearing a Mask Protect Me from Coronavirus? Though I’m sure most of the people faithfully wearing masks think it does, the answer is pretty clearly “NO!” A cloth mask, or even an N95 mask, is not going to prevent a virus measured in nanometers (one-billioneth of a meter) from entering your respiratory tract. In fairness I must add that the issue is not especially the minute size of the virus, but the fact that it can be carried in water droplets particularly from sneezing or coughing. Thus the legitimate purpose of wearing a mask is to prevent the mask wearer’s spreading the infection to others around them, even though there is consistent agreement in studies that neither cloth nor surgical masks totally stop these fine aerosols.

Because no studies have really been done on COVID-19 showing that either cloth or N95 masks affect transmission, studies on flu virus transmission provide the most information. Dr. Blaylock’s brochure notes that a review of 17 studies concluded, “None of the studies established a conclusive relationship between mask/respirator use and protection against influenza infection. (Bin-Reza, F, et. al., “The Use of Mask and Respirators to Prevent Transmission of Influenza: A Systematic Review of the Scientific Evidence,” Respiratory Viruses 2012;6(4):257-67)

The CDC just published a study regarding the use of masks 14 days before becoming infected by a group in July. Of those infected, 71% were always wearing a mask and 14% often wore a mask. In other words, 85% generally wore masks but got the virus anyway!

2. Who Should Be Wearing a Mask? Historically we would have to say that people sick with the virus should be the one’s wearing a mask, not the healthy people. For example, the person with TB has worn the mask, not the healthy people around them. The mask recommendations for the coronavirus really have no precedent in the handling of previous pandemics.

3. Do Masks Cause Respiratory Problems? There is indication that masks adversely affect one’s respiratory system. Given the coronavirus manifests primarily with respiratory symptoms, it’s bizarre that a so-called “mitigation” effort like masking might make it worse. In one study of healthcare workers wearing N95 masks, approximately a third developed headaches, plus worsening symptoms for those already experiencing headaches. Blood oxygenation can be reduced by as much as 20% (hypoxia). Another study of healthcare workers aged 21 to 35 years old found that 81% experienced headaches from wearing a mask. (Ong, JJ, et. al., “Headaches Associated with Personal Protective Equipment-A Cross-Sectional Study Among Frontline Healthcare Workers During COVID-19,” Headache 2020;60(5)864-877)

4. Do Masks impair Immunity? One of my greatest concerns is the potential effect masking, especially prolonged masking, can have on immunity. Lowered oxygen levels (as discussed above) have a negative effect on immunity. Quoting from Dr. Blaylock in the Citizens for Free Speech brochure:

Hypoxia is a common denominator for virtually all degenerative diseases. For example, cancer thrives in a low oxygen environment, as originally discovered in the 1930’s by Dr. Otto Warburg, who got the Nobel Prize for his discovery.

​​​​​​​5. Do Masks Cause “Rebreathing” the Virus? It’s one thing to have a mask on for a few minutes, as I do every weekday when I take our shipments into the Post Office, but quite another thing to have a mask on continuously for hours on end. When you wear a mask you are rebreathing a lot of the same air. If you have the virus, you’re rebreathing the virus, increasing its concentration in your body. It appears that those with the highest virus concentration have the most difficulty with coronavirus infection. There is also the suggestion that the virus can enter the brain through the olfactory nerves as a result of this rebreathing.

If it were up to me, the only people wearing masks would be those who are ill with the virus . . . but it’s not up to me! The reality is that mask wearing, with all its false assumptions, is pretty ingrained in our culture right now. Most private businesses are asking us to wear a mask. That is their right, even if I think it’s wrong. I can, of course, choose to not patronize such a business. That is my right. If I am only minimally inconvenienced with wearing a mask for a few minutes, I can live with it. If none of my basic freedoms are being seriously compromised, I can handle that.

But I live in one of the less oppressive states in regard to masks. If I lived in California and was being told I couldn’t go to church, I would not comply. That’s over the line, both biblically and constitutionally. But if I can wear a mask briefly in a particular location so as to not offend or spur a unnecessary confrontation with someone, I’ll do that. The Bible says, “If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.” (Romans 12:18) There’s something to be said for going out of your way to not be perceived as a horse’s rear end by other people. You, however, based on your convictions, have to find the balance that’s right for you while this issue goes on.

                                                                                                                                                — Monte Kline, Ph.D