Masks That Tie Up Preferable for Eye Health During Halloween: Douglas Lazzaro, MD

Investing in proper masks that don't have snapping elastic on them and do not obstruct peripheral vision can help to protect the eyes of both children and adults who are looking to dress up for Halloween, said Douglas Lazzaro, MD, professor of ophthalmology and vice chair of operations at NYU Langone Health.

This transcript has been lightly edited for clarity; captions are auto-generated.

Transcript

Are there types of masks that are better for eye health during Halloween?

I would suggest that if you're going to put on an eye mask, it may be better to get one that ties in the back rather than has an elastic band, because we've seen many injuries from elastic bands that snap. Something that ties would definitely be more beneficial. And again, a mask that doesn't occlude the periphery of the vision.

And we had a number of patients during [the COVID-19 pandemic], specifically with the N95 elastic mask with the elastic band that would snap into people's eyes. You're putting it on, it's not tight enough, you adjust it, and then boom, it snaps in, and it abrades the cornea. So tie up masks. Face paint is not a bad idea in lieu of that, but not directly above the eye where the stuff can get into the eye. Some of these paints that you put on the face can be toxic to the ocular surface.

What environmental factors should children and adults look out for when trick-or-treating?

I think one of the main things is a lot of the trick-or-treating goes on at dusk and at nighttime, and so it's not so hard to trip and fall when you're walking up and down staircases. Homes may not be well lit, so you have to be really careful about not falling down staircases. And it tends to be chaotic in some neighborhoods when there are lots of kids, and then you have people riding bikes, driving cars, and using e-bikes to deliver food to people. And you've got to be careful, if you're trick-or-treating, that you don't get hit by one of these things, or you don't accidentally walk into something. These are all pretty big environmental hazards that you've got to be careful about during Halloween.