Wearing Face Mask Causing Pain in Ears? 17-Year-Old Girl from West Bengal Has an Innovative Solution

Face masks have become a necessity for all who are stepping out of their houses during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, a lot of people complain that wearing masks for a long period of time, despite the safety it provides, leads to constant pressure and pain in ears. Now, a class 12 student from Purba Bardhaman district in West Bengal has designed an innovative 'ear pressure reduction tool' to provide a solution for all the naysayers to masks.

Digantika Bose of Vidyasagar Smriti Vidyamandir Branch 2 in Memari has received the Dr A P J Abdul Kalam Ignited Mind Children Creativity and Innovation Awards 2020 for her work.

A report by The Indian Express quoted the 17-year-old girl saying that health workers and others essential workers have to keep their mouth and nose covered with face masks for long period of times. They often complain of pressure and pain in their ears because of constantly sporting a face mask.

"To solve this problem, I designed these bands with the help of discarded plastic or flexible board," she said.

Digantika, who is one of nine children who won the annual competition, said that she is extremely happy to receive the honour.

Elaborating upon her innovation, Digantika said that the head band is a face mask extender that connects the ear straps and extends them to wrap around the back of the person's head. With this, there will be no pressure on the ears and people will no longer face discomfort or complain of earache.

The report said that the ‘ear pressure reduction tool’ is not the first COVID-19 related innovation developed by Digantika. The girl from Bengal has five special research and prototypes related to COVID-19.

Earlier in April, Digantika made the ‘Air Providing and Virus Destroying Mask’ for which she received recognition from the National Innovation Foundation (NIF) and was also recognised by the Ministry of Science and Technology.

Digantika's father Sudipta Bose said that his daughter loves to keep herself occupied with different kinds of research. Her study place has transformed into a small research centre.

Proud of her daughter, Sudipta said that Digantika has received multiple awards for her ideas and innovation.