Your mask feels uncomfortable? Get over it. As a surgeon, I know how vital they are.

NOTE:  This article is being provided free of charge by The Washington Post.

Today, my wife returned from a visit with a friend. “She won’t wear a mask. She said it’s too uncomfortable.”

Had I been there, I would have said, as I now do when I hear people complaining about the discomforts of a mask, “Sorry, you’ll get no sympathy from me.”

As a surgeon, I spent much of my life behind a mask. Yes, it could be uncomfortable, especially during hay fever season, when I would excuse myself at the end of a three-hour operation to discreetly remove my snot-filled mask and wipe my face clean. Continue reading.