Asthma can be a challenging condition. It prevents you from doing simple tasks, such as walking outside. But, to make things worse, the disease is incurable and the symptoms are very hard to control. This article gives several tips and suggestions on how to prevent your symptoms from becoming too severe.
If your child or another loved one suffers from asthma, you should be sure to never smoke cigarettes when you’re near them. It has been medically proven that smoking can cause asthma or make existing symptoms worse. Make sure you keep your child away from other people who are smoking, too.
It is very important that an asthma sufferer refrain from smoking, if you do then it is advisable you quit now. Smoking is bad for everyone, but it’s particularly dangerous for an asthma sufferer, as it cuts off vital oxygen to the lungs.
Asthma is a chronic condition that is ongoing over time, and as such, will require a continual treatment and management regimen. Always be very sure that you’re taking the right type of medication for your condition if you hope to control it. It’s also important to have a quick-relief medication available. Find out from your allergist and your doctor what is best for you.
Because asthma is a continuing condition, you have to continually manage your health. Take the proper medications for controlling your asthma daily, and keep quick relief medication somewhere on you just in case you have a sudden attack. Speak to your allergist and doctor to see what they recommend for you.
Don’t turn on any fans if you see that your room is dusty. This will move all the dust around, and can easily trigger an asthma attack. Open a window to bring clean, cool air inside instead.
If you suffer from asthma, and have many attacks that are related to your allergy symptoms, there is a medication that is injected and provides long term effects. Your allergist may recommend a variety of medications to control your reactions and the onset of asthma.
When suffering from asthma, there are vitamins that can help, including E and C. Both vitamins improve lung function, helping you to better resist asthma attacks and other negative symptoms. You can take a supplement in order to get these vitamins if there is not enough of them in your food. These vitamins can boost immune systems, which helps you to avoid illnesses that can be a trigger for your asthma.
Stay away from cigarette smoke, even if it’s secondhand. When you inhale tobacco smoke, the lung’s function can be decreased, and you will increase the chance you have an asthma attack. Smaller areas without proper ventilation make you even more susceptible to an attack.
IF you have asthma, you should consider buying a dehumidifier. Decreasing the humidity in the house decreases dust mites, which decreases asthma flare ups. A dehumidifier makes the air in your home dry by keeping humidity to a minimum.
If you suffer with asthma, get a flu shot each year. Therefore, it is very important to avoid as many infections to the lungs as possible by getting a vaccine each year.
If you have asthma, it is imperative that you stay away from smokers. When you breathe in smoke, especially in small spaces, it diminishes breathing ability, which greatly increases the probability of an asthma attack.
Asthma Triggers
Your asthma treatments will likely increase when you suffer from hay fever or a cold. Many of these illnesses will worsen your asthma symptoms bad enough to require more treatments than you typically need. The doctor may choose to pursue additional treatment options during your illness as well.
You need to know what the asthma triggers are so that they can be avoided or treated promptly. Common asthma triggers include pollen, smoke or dander. Make a special effort to avoid agents that bring on even minor asthma symptoms, much less a major attack.
Those who have asthma should avoid down pillows. The feathers can make it harder to breathe right and trigger an attack. The same reasoning applies to all bedding – only purchase bed sheets and comforters that are manufactured from hypoallergenic materials.
If you are asthmatic, it may be a good idea to use a pillow that is not filled with feathers. Pillow feathers force the lungs to work harder and can exacerbate asthma problems. This also goes for bedding; use sheets, comforters and blankets that are crafted from hypoallergenic materials.
Even if you are feeling great, never skip your regular asthma checkup. Asthma can flare-up at any time, and you never know, perhaps your doctor has safer or better medications which can help your symptoms.
If you have asthma, clean your floors with a wet mop, instead of sweeping with a traditional broom. Sweeping sends dust and dander back into the air and could trigger an asthma attack. Dusting with a damp cloth rather than a feather duster can be a considerable help in reducing the amount of dust and other things that might start an attack.
In the winter, prevent attacks by wearing shawls, mufflers and scarves that cover the nose and mouth. This helps warm the air prior to it entering your lungs. Inhaling cold air can elicit an asthma attack or create other serious respiratory problems.
When you are making an effort to control asthma, do not smoke. Smoke can cause you to have an asthma attack. Make sure to stay away from chemical fumes and cigarette smoke whenever possible. These are all common triggers and can aggravate asthma symptoms. If you are being exposed to things that may irritate your asthma, remove yourself from the situation as quickly as possible.
Understanding how to properly administer your asthma medications is important, particularly in regard to rescue medications. Asthma is generally treated with a rescue medication, usually an inhaler, in addition to a regularly-taken maintenance medication. Asthma lasts a lifetime, so you must manage your treatment and lifestyle to ensure you’re taking the best care of yourself.
Bed linens attract things that cause asthma attacks. You may cut down on these potential inducers of an asthma attack by cleaning your sheets and pillows in hot water each week. If you are sleeping on freshly laundered linens, you will sleep much easier.
If you are cleaning, you should use a mop that is damp instead of a dry broom. Sweeping can stir up some asthmatic triggers that will exacerbate your symptoms. Dust will adhere to a wet towel instead of being loose in the air like feather dusters do where it can aggravate your asthma.
Consult with multiple doctors. Your primary physician should always be your first stop when dealing with asthma, but you may find it helpful to add a specialist’s knowledge. Some specialists to consider visiting are those who deal directly with allergies or nutrition. This is a great way to attack asthma from all angles.
Those with asthma should remain inside as much as they can when the pollen count rises. Asthma is in no way an allergy, but a lot of the same burdens that bother allergy suffers also affect people who suffer from asthma. These days, information about the quality of local air is readily available, so people with asthma can avoid spending time outside when the air is full of things that irritate their lungs.
Any time that pollen counts go up, anyone suffering from asthma would be wise to keep their outdoors time to a minimum. The same pollens and other irritants that cause trouble for allergy sufferers are also concerns for asthma sufferers, even though the two are quite distinct conditions. The air quality information should be used to find out when it is better to stay indoors to avoid irritants present in the air.
Remain calm if you do happen to come under an asthma attack. Take your first dose of your inhaler and then wait thirty seconds. You can use your inhaler again after that. If this doesn’t start to control your attack, get assistance right away. Have someone call an ambulance for you, or have them bring you to a hospital. Breathing into a paper bag on the way can sometimes help by slowing your breathing rate.
If you suffer from asthma attacks, familiarize yourself with how to properly use your inhaler. You should not just stick it between your lips and spray. Each time you spray your inhaler, breath in deeply for a few seconds. If you are having trouble using it correctly, ask your doctor for help at your next visit.
Knowing the correct way to use an inhaler is essential. You cannot just spray it in your mouth and lightly inhale. Whenever you spray your inhaler, inhale deeply for multiple seconds. Proper use of your inhaler is key when you have asthma.
Knowing your catalysts for asthma attacks is the first step to preventing them. Write down anything that triggers an asthma attack, then share what you’ve written with your asthma specialist. Once you know your triggers, do what you can to eliminate them from where you are, as much as possible.
It is important to visit with your doctor often, every two months or so, in order to stay on top of your asthma. Your doctor should be recording your current state as a benchmark, and making necessary changes to improve your situation if needed. Although your doctor is there to help you stay healthy and manage your asthma, your health is your responsibility. Make and keep regular doctor’s appointments so that you can keep asthma under control.
Asthma is a lung disease that is caused by environmental or genetic factors. If you have a family member with asthma, keep a close watch on your children and yourself for any asthma related symptoms. Asthma sufferers need to be especially careful to avoid smoke, dust mites, extremely high air pollution levels and allergens.
Get a breathing mask before painting in your house, so you can avoid breathing the fumes. The fumes from paint are very irritating to the lungs of asthma sufferers, but a mask goes a long way towards filtering out these irritants. Use proper safety equipment to protect yourself from chemicals that can agitate your asthma condition.
Asthma is a serious diagnosis, and it should never be taken lightly or ignored. Take all appropriate steps to reduce and prevent symptoms, and seek professional help when you think symptoms are getting out of control. You can use the information that has been provided to take charge of your life and reduce the control asthma and it’s symptoms have over you.
Knowing what triggers your asthma is an extremely important thing to know in order to prevent your attacks. Write down potential asthma triggers in a journal and talk to your doctor about them. Once you know your triggers, do what you can to eliminate them from where you are, as much as possible.