As everyone else is saying, wear a mask if you have one.
But it seems like the question you’re directly asking is more about the fluid flow of air in the room. With your suggestion of alternating short/long breaths, you might be imagining that you can blow the germs away and then breathe in the clear space left behind, but of course it doesn’t work that way. Blowing or breathing quickly creates more turbulence, which stirs up the air and sucks in more air from further away—both of which increase your risk. (Reducing turbulence from your breath is the second function of a mask, besides filtering out particles.) In the best-case scenario, the germs are in large aerosolized droplets which will settle out of the air quickly, but only if the air is still—so you’d want to breathe softly and move as little as possible. (And the droplets can still be infectious after they fall, so wash your hands after touching anything as well.)
Thank you for addressing my question. I’m aware of masks, lol. Any idea about nose vs. mouth breathing? Nose hairs filter some stuff, but then these aerosolized droplets are in my nose, so maybe that’s worse?
Regarding short vs long breaths, I was kind of wondering if short breaths might limit how much virus material was inhaled. Restricting oxygen flow might be better if the exposure was short term.
But since there’s overwhelming evidence masks work and will prevent (most likely) what you want to prevent…why even try something else? Unless you have a condition that prevents it, in which case, I’m sorry and shouldn’t assume you can wear one.
Because I don’t always have an N95 mask on my person? Because I can’t always 100% control my environment, but I can almost always exercise some control over how I breathe?
I’ve just adapted to always having a mask on my person. In a pocket or bag.
But if there is some sort of breathing technique that works (other than not breathing, but sort of doubt) go for it.
I just wanted to state my opinion and I guess my problem solving technique (the easiest and most effective/reliable option is usually best) but everyone has their own, and I understand that.
As everyone else is saying, wear a mask if you have one.
But it seems like the question you’re directly asking is more about the fluid flow of air in the room. With your suggestion of alternating short/long breaths, you might be imagining that you can blow the germs away and then breathe in the clear space left behind, but of course it doesn’t work that way. Blowing or breathing quickly creates more turbulence, which stirs up the air and sucks in more air from further away—both of which increase your risk. (Reducing turbulence from your breath is the second function of a mask, besides filtering out particles.) In the best-case scenario, the germs are in large aerosolized droplets which will settle out of the air quickly, but only if the air is still—so you’d want to breathe softly and move as little as possible. (And the droplets can still be infectious after they fall, so wash your hands after touching anything as well.)
Thank you for addressing my question. I’m aware of masks, lol. Any idea about nose vs. mouth breathing? Nose hairs filter some stuff, but then these aerosolized droplets are in my nose, so maybe that’s worse?
Regarding short vs long breaths, I was kind of wondering if short breaths might limit how much virus material was inhaled. Restricting oxygen flow might be better if the exposure was short term.
But since there’s overwhelming evidence masks work and will prevent (most likely) what you want to prevent…why even try something else? Unless you have a condition that prevents it, in which case, I’m sorry and shouldn’t assume you can wear one.
Because I don’t always have an N95 mask on my person? Because I can’t always 100% control my environment, but I can almost always exercise some control over how I breathe?
I guess that’s fair.
I’ve just adapted to always having a mask on my person. In a pocket or bag.
But if there is some sort of breathing technique that works (other than not breathing, but sort of doubt) go for it.
I just wanted to state my opinion and I guess my problem solving technique (the easiest and most effective/reliable option is usually best) but everyone has their own, and I understand that.
The purpose of this post was to try to find an answer to this question