Asthma can make your life difficult, frustrating and sad. It can affect your ability to participate in even the most basic of activities, such as going for a short walk. Unfortunately, there is no actual cure for asthma, but there are indeed treatments. This article gives several tips and suggestions on how to prevent your symptoms from becoming too severe.
As a chronic disease, asthma must be managed continuously. You need to keep taking your medications to control the asthma symptoms every day, and if an attack should occur, you should have quick relief medication at your disposal. See your doctor or allergist to find out which treatment plan is best for your situation.
Stay away from smoking, or being around any smoke, vapors or fumes. Thus, you need to avoid cigarettes and cigars and be vigilant about steering clear of environmental or workplace exposure to smoke.
If you are experiencing a moderately severe attack, try to first exhale completely. Breathe out quick and forcefully. Exhale with maximum force! Inhale three times with short breaths, and then on the fourth one take a deeper breath so your lungs are full of air but still comfortable. Then breath out as hard as you can again. This establishes a regular pattern to your breathing routine, which means you have to pay attention to how you are breathing. It will also help to get the air to come out of the lungs so more can come in. You may generate sputum or cough but that is alright, since your main objective is getting you to breathe normally again.
Do you know which type of asthma you suffer from? Gaining as much knowledge as you can about the type of asthma you have can make your day-to-day activities a little easier. A perfect example is that if you have asthma caused by exercise you should put a inhaler in your locker or gym bag. If you know and understand your asthma triggers, you can better avoid and handle attacks.
If you suffer from asthma and allergy attacks, ask your doctor for a long-lasting allergy injection. An antibody medicine known as omalizumab is very effective at countering asthma attacks related to allergies. Ask your allergist about it.
If you suffer with asthma, avoid cleaning products. A lot of these products contain harsh chemicals such as ammonia. These chemicals wreak havoc on you and can trigger an attack. If you’re the one that cleans your home, try organic or natural cleaning solutions that are much less risky to your health.
Make sure you use the inhaler in the proper, prescribed method. Try to locate a calming location, and be certain to adhere to any directions given by the inhaler’s maker. Your inhaler will only help if you breathe very deeply. While inhaling, spray the dosage in your mouth. Allow the mist to fill up your lungs by holding your breath at least ten seconds.
You want to make sure you can avoid situations that could trigger your asthma. This could be something you’re allergic to like pollen or dust. Some things, such as physical exertion, can cause an asthma attack. Know your asthma causes so you can avoid putting yourself in a situation where you may suffer from an attack.
If you suffer from asthma, ensure you consume lots of Vitamins E and C. These vitamins can help improve your lung function, ultimately controlling asthma. You can take a supplement or consume these vitamins in food. These vitamins will also provide a boost to your immune system. This will prevent respiratory illnesses that can trigger your asthma attacks.
Exhale as hard as you can during an asthma attack. If you can’t breathe at all, go to the hospital; however, controlling your exhalation rate can sometimes help stop a less severe attack. Exhale quickly and forcefully. Exhale with maximum force! Do your inhalations in triple bursts of short breaths, and then follow with final deep inhalation so that you fill your lungs comfortably, before exhaling with vehemence once more. Breathing in this rhythmic manner helps you to concentrate on the breaths you’re taking. It will also help to get the air to come out of the lungs so more can come in. Regardless of whether spetum is generated, it will aid in returning breathing back to a normal state.
Your asthma medication may need to be adjusted if you become ill. The effects of an illness can cause the severity of your asthma to temporarily increase, which necessitates a change in treatment. It is possible that your doctor will decide to modify your treatment, or even add additional treatments, until you are back on your feet.
If you have asthma and do not have health insurance, you should consider seeing a social worker. It’s vital that you stay on medication, so there may be programs available to help you get them at a discount.
Make sure that your rescue medication is at hand at all times during your travels. The stress of travel may temporarily weaken your body and make you more vulnerable to attack triggers. It’s also hard to control the environment you’re in when traveling, which is another reason you might experience more symptoms or have an attack.
A dehumidifier is a beneficial investment for anyone with asthma. With less humidity, there will be fewer dust mites, and that means that there is less of a chance that your asthma will flare up. Dehumidifiers cause the air in your home to become dry, which means less humidity.
The development of asthma symptoms can occur over time and they can be difficult to pinpoint and diagnose. In some cases, people do not even know they might have a chance of an asthma attack and their first one proves fatal. So, if you have a lingering cough or instances of troubled breathing, you should see a doctor to see if you might have asthma and determine whether you may need medication to either prevent or treat asthma.
You will need to keep your residence really clean, especially the bedroom where the asthma sufferer sleeps in order to help lessen the chances of an attack. Never allow anyone to smoke in the home of an asthmatic, and consider using plastic to cover your mattress and pillows. Don’t use strong cleaners or bleach and air out the house immediately following cleaning.
When flying and bringing along asthma medications and equipment, be sure to pack your prescriptions. This is especially true for large items like a nebulizer. Having written documentation supporting this medically necessary item will eliminate any hassles when going through the security check point.
Support Group
It is important to use your maintenance inhaler daily as prescribed. However, understand that most types of inhalers contain ingredients which may make your mouth more susceptible to infections. Brushing or gargling immediately after use can help reduce the risk of infection and other problems.
Consider joining a support group, either on or offline. Since severe asthma can be quite debilitating, it can have a huge impact on your everyday life. By getting involved in a support group you will also be speaking with other sufferers who may know of new scientific discoveries and treatment plans you may not be aware of.
It is important to track how often you use your fast-acting inhaler each week. Using it more often than twice weekly means that you should have your asthma assessed by a doctor. You can use your frequency of inhaler use to gauge the effectiveness of your asthma treatment plan and make modifications when necessary.
As stated earlier, asthma must be taken seriously. It is a medical condition with symptoms that can potentially be catastrophic. Find out what symptoms may be specific to you, and begin learning how you can manage it every step of the way. Make sure to apply these suggestions to improve your symptoms and to prevent asthma from controlling your life.
For a deeper and more thorough cleaning, mop your floors instead of simply sweeping them. When you sweep, you are stirring up asthma triggers that can cause you to have an asthma attack. Also, use damp rags instead of feather dusters to dust your furniture.