A face tent is an open, shield-like oxygen delivery device that cups loosely under a patient’s chin and across the cheeks without sealing over the nose or mouth. Unlike a standard face mask, it leaves the area around the nose and upper lip largely uncovered, making it a go-to choice when a patient cannot tolerate a tight-fitting mask, has facial injuries or burns, needs high-humidity aerosol therapy, or has just had surgery on the face or jaw. The device is simple in concept but surprisingly tricky in practice, and the oxygen concentration that actually reaches a patient’s lungs often falls well short of what the equipment dial suggests.
How a Face Tent Is Designed
A face tent is usually a soft, clear plastic shield shaped like the lower half of a bucket with the bottom cut away. It hangs from elastic straps that loop behind the ears or over the head, and it sits below the patient’s chin, curving up along the jawline toward the cheeks. The top edge remains open, which is the key difference from a standard oxygen mask. Because air flows freely in and out at the top, the patient never feels enclosed or claustrophobic, and exhaled carbon dioxide dissipates quickly instead of pooling inside the device.
Oxygen or humidified aerosol enters through wide-bore tubing connected to a port on the front or side of the tent. In many setups, a jet nebulizer is attached to the circuit, producing a fine mist that adds moisture to the inhaled gas. That moisture is especially valuable when patients have thick secretions, irritated airways, or upper-airway swelling, since dry medical oxygen can worsen mucosal irritation.
Oxygen Delivery and the Gap Between Dial and Lungs
The open design that makes a face tent comfortable also makes its oxygen delivery imprecise. Because room air mixes freely with the oxygen flowing into the tent, the concentration of oxygen a patient actually inhales depends on the flow rate, the patient’s breathing pattern, and how well the tent is positioned. A study measuring the fraction of inspired oxygen at different flow rates found that the delivered concentration ranged from roughly 24% at 1 liter per minute up to about 86% at 15 liters per minute, with considerable variability between individuals.1Revista Portuguesa de Pneumologia. Mensuração da FiO2, SatO2 e frequência respiratória em pacientes submetidos a oxigenoterapia em tenda facial That lower end is barely above the 21% oxygen concentration of normal room air, meaning at very low flow rates the tent adds almost nothing.
The imprecision becomes even more pronounced when a jet nebulizer is used. Research in which ten patients received oxygen through face tents powered by nebulizers running at 12 to 14 liters per minute of pure oxygen found that the oxygen concentration measured in the back of the throat never closely matched the concentration set on the nebulizer dial.2Respiratory Care. Problems in Delivering Desired Oxygen Concentrations from Jet Nebulizers to Patients via Face Tents In practice, this means clinicians cannot simply dial up a precise oxygen percentage and assume the patient is getting it. The face tent is best thought of as a moderate-concentration, variable-delivery system rather than a precision tool.
This is an important distinction from devices like a Venturi mask, which uses a jet-mixing principle to deliver a tightly controlled oxygen concentration regardless of the patient’s breathing. When a patient needs a specific oxygen level, such as someone with chronic lung disease who risks suppressing their breathing drive with too much oxygen, a face tent is generally not the right choice.
Where Face Tents Are Used in Practice
Despite the imprecision, face tents fill a real clinical niche. Their main advantages are comfort, tolerance, and the ability to deliver humidified aerosol in situations where a sealed mask is impractical or intolerable.
After Surgery
One of the most common places you will encounter a face tent is the recovery room. Patients waking up from general anesthesia often receive supplemental oxygen through a face tent, particularly when the surgery involved the mouth, nose, or jaw. The open top means the device does not press on fresh surgical sites, and the humidified mist soothes airways that may have been irritated by an endotracheal tube.
That said, the evidence on how well face tents protect against low oxygen levels in recovery is sobering. A study of 100 postoperative patients continuously monitored by pulse oximetry found that significant drops in blood oxygen saturation occurred even while the patients were receiving 40% oxygen through an aerosol face tent.3PubMed. Hypoxemic episodes of patients in a postanesthesia care unit These desaturation episodes happened during the short-term recovery period, suggesting that the face tent alone may not be enough to prevent dangerous dips in oxygen for all patients. Clinicians monitor pulse oximetry closely and are prepared to switch to a tighter-fitting device or escalate care when numbers start dropping.
Facial and Airway Swelling
Face tents are especially useful when a patient has significant facial or upper-airway swelling. A common example is angioedema triggered by certain blood pressure medications. In a review of patients with this type of drug-induced swelling, treatment included discontinuing the medication, delivering high-humidity air through a face tent, and administering intravenous antihistamines and steroids. Most patients saw their swelling resolve within 48 hours.4Annals of Otology, Rhinology & Laryngology. Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor-induced angioedema: a multicenter review and an algorithm for airway management In these cases, the face tent serves a dual purpose: it delivers supplemental oxygen and simultaneously provides the cool, moist air that helps reduce tissue swelling around the lips, tongue, and throat.
Burns and Facial Trauma
Patients with burns to the face, bandaging across the nose, or trauma to the jaw often cannot wear a nasal cannula or a mask. A face tent sits low enough to avoid contact with injured tissue while still directing oxygen-rich air toward the nose and mouth. For the same reason, it is sometimes used in patients who have had tracheostomy decannulation and are transitioning back to breathing through their natural airway but cannot yet tolerate a mask.
How It Stacks Up Against Other Oxygen Devices
A classic study compared several oxygen delivery techniques in 15 subjects, evaluating the oxygen concentrations achieved at various flow rates, the carbon dioxide levels that built up, and overall patient comfort. The devices were ranked in this order of overall preference: nasal cannula first, then plastic face masks, nasal catheter, plastic face tent, rubber oronasal masks, and finally the oxygen tent.5JAMA. Comparative Evaluation of Oxygen Therapy Techniques The face tent landed in the middle of the pack, outperforming the bulkier rubber masks and the cumbersome large oxygen tent, but falling behind the simpler nasal cannula and standard face mask for everyday use.
That middle ranking reflects the device’s fundamental tradeoff. A nasal cannula is small, unobtrusive, and lets patients eat, drink, and talk freely. A standard face mask delivers a higher and somewhat more predictable oxygen concentration. The face tent offers neither the convenience of the cannula nor the precision of the mask, but it provides something neither can: an open, non-contact way to deliver humidified oxygen to patients whose faces cannot be touched or enclosed.
More recent evidence has reinforced that when a patient can tolerate a nasal cannula, there may be no oxygen-delivery advantage to choosing a face tent. A comparison of low-flow nasal cannulas and face tents in postoperative patients found no meaningful difference in blood oxygen levels at any time point during the first 20 minutes of recovery, despite the face tent delivering oxygen at higher flow rates.6Journal of PeriAnesthesia Nursing. Low Flow Nasal Cannula Versus Face Tent Use in Post-Operative Care The finding is striking because face tents typically run at 8 to 15 liters per minute while nasal cannulas use 1 to 6 liters per minute, meaning the face tent consumed far more oxygen from the hospital’s supply to achieve an equivalent result. For facilities watching their oxygen use and costs, that inefficiency matters.
Why the Open Top Creates So Much Variability
The physics behind the face tent’s imprecision is straightforward. When you breathe in, you create a slight negative pressure that draws air from whatever is nearest. With a sealed mask, nearly all of that air comes from the oxygen-enriched reservoir inside the mask. With a face tent, the top is open, so each inhalation pulls in a mixture of the oxygen flowing into the tent and ambient room air drifting in from above. How much room air gets drawn in depends on the patient’s tidal volume, their respiratory rate, the oxygen flow rate, and even head position. A patient who tilts their head back may expose more of the tent’s opening to room air; someone who tucks their chin may inadvertently create a better seal.
This variability is why you will sometimes see nurses adjusting the tent’s position or tucking a towel around its edges to reduce the open space. These improvised modifications help, but they also move the device closer to being a loose face mask, which partially defeats the purpose. Clinicians generally accept the imprecision and rely on pulse oximetry to guide their response. If the patient’s oxygen saturation stays in an acceptable range, the exact concentration being delivered matters less than the clinical result.
Humidity Delivery and Airway Comfort
Beyond oxygen, one of the face tent’s most valued functions is delivering humidified air or aerosolized medication. Medical-grade oxygen from a wall outlet or tank is extremely dry. Breathing dry gas for hours irritates the lining of the nose, throat, and airways, thickens mucus, and can cause nosebleeds. A face tent paired with a heated or cool-mist nebulizer turns that dry gas into a comfortable, moisture-laden stream that patients can breathe without discomfort.
This makes face tents particularly popular in ear, nose, and throat wards, where patients recovering from tonsillectomies, adenoidectomies, or sinus surgeries benefit from both supplemental oxygen and humidification. It also explains the device’s role in managing airway edema: the humidified aerosol itself has a therapeutic effect, helping to shrink swollen tissue and loosen thick secretions that might otherwise obstruct breathing.
Some setups use the face tent purely for humidity, running the nebulizer on compressed air rather than oxygen. In those cases, the goal is moisture rather than supplemental oxygen, and the device functions essentially as a personal humidifier directed at the patient’s face.
Face Tents During the COVID-19 Pandemic
An unexpected chapter in the face tent’s story emerged during the early waves of COVID-19, when hospitals scrambled to protect healthcare workers from aerosolized virus particles. Researchers explored whether a face tent could be repurposed as a disposable aerosol evacuation system, essentially flipping its usual role. Instead of delivering gas to the patient, the tent was positioned to capture exhaled aerosol from an infected patient and route it through a filter or suction system, reducing contamination in the surrounding environment.7PubMed. Re-purposing a face tent as a disposable aerosol evacuation system to reduce contamination in COVID-19 patients: a simulated demonstration The concept took advantage of the tent’s existing design: it already fits loosely over the lower face and connects to large-bore tubing that can be attached to suction. Because face tents are inexpensive and widely stocked, they offered a pragmatic option during a period when purpose-built aerosol containment devices were in short supply.
When a Face Tent Is Not the Right Choice
There are clear situations where reaching for a face tent would be a mistake. Patients in acute respiratory failure who need a guaranteed high oxygen concentration should receive a non-rebreather mask or be placed on a high-flow system that can deliver more controlled gas. The face tent’s open design simply cannot ensure the 60 to 90% oxygen concentrations that critically ill patients sometimes require. Similarly, patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease who need a precise low-flow oxygen target are better served by a Venturi mask, which can lock in a specific concentration and prevent the accidental over-oxygenation that could suppress their respiratory drive.
Agitated or confused patients may also pull a face tent off repeatedly, since it is only held in place by light elastic straps and gravity. A nasal cannula, by contrast, can be taped or clipped more securely. And for patients who are fully alert, comfortable, and just need a small oxygen boost, a simple nasal cannula is more convenient, uses less oxygen, and achieves similar blood oxygen levels in postoperative settings, as the comparison study noted earlier confirmed.
Practical Tips for Patients and Caregivers
If you or someone you are caring for is placed on a face tent in a hospital setting, a few practical points are worth knowing. The mist coming from the device is normal and expected; it means the nebulizer is working and delivering humidified air. The tent should sit comfortably under the chin without pressing on the neck or any surgical sites. If it rides up over the nose, it is too high and may interfere with the patient’s field of vision or cause discomfort.
Condensation will collect inside the tent and on the tubing. Nurses periodically drain this by disconnecting the tubing briefly and letting the water empty into a collection container. This is routine maintenance, not a malfunction. If the mist stops or the flow seems to decrease, alert the nursing staff, because the nebulizer may need refilling or the tubing may have kinked.
Patients wearing a face tent can usually eat and drink, though the mist and the tent itself make it a bit awkward. Many clinicians will briefly switch to a nasal cannula during meals and return the face tent afterward. You are also free to talk normally while wearing the device, since it does not cover the mouth. The biggest complaint from patients tends to be the dampness: the constant mist can make the chin and neck feel wet. Tucking a small towel or absorbent pad under the tent’s lower edge helps keep the skin dry and prevents irritation during longer sessions.
Why Hospitals Still Stock Them
Given the imprecision of their oxygen delivery and the availability of more targeted devices, it is fair to wonder why face tents remain a standard part of hospital respiratory equipment. The answer comes down to versatility in a narrow but important set of circumstances. No other single device simultaneously delivers humidified aerosol, avoids contact with the face, accommodates facial bandaging or swelling, and allows easy access for suctioning or oral care. For the patient recovering from jaw surgery with wired or banded teeth, or the patient whose lips and tongue are swollen from an allergic reaction, or the burn patient with dressings across the cheeks, the face tent is often the only practical option.
They are also inexpensive and disposable, which makes them easy to stock in large quantities. During the pandemic-era shortages that strained supply chains for more specialized respiratory equipment, the face tent’s simplicity and availability proved unexpectedly valuable. Hospitals that had pallets of face tents in storage found creative new uses for them at a time when improvisation was essential to patient care.