Are you someone who suffers from asthma and found yourself wishing you knew more? Remember you’re not the only one experiencing this. Sometimes it seems almost impossible to find a concise, accurate guide to this condition. In this article, you’re going to learn information that might possibly surprise you.
An important part of symptom management is knowing what type of asthma you have. Before you can develop a self-care plan for your asthma symptoms, you need to know the specific cause of your symptoms. If you have exercised-induced asthma, for example, you’ll want to bring your inhaler with you to the gym or other locations where you might be involved in physical activity. Knowing the patterns of your symptoms will help you avoid crises.
What kind of asthma do you have? Gaining as much knowledge as you can about the type of asthma you have can make your day-to-day activities a little easier. For instance, people with exercise-induced asthma would do well to carry an inhaler in their gym bag! You can avoid a crisis by knowing your symptoms’ patterns.
When you have asthma, it is vital that you avoid cleaning products. Many chemicals contained in common cleaning products can aggravate your asthma, triggering an attack. There are many natural alternatives you can use to clean your home, instead of using harsh chemicals.
An important tip to help protect your asthma-afflicted children is to always refrain from smoking around them. Secondhand smoke is known to be a reason asthma happens. Make sure you keep your child away from other people who are smoking, too.
If you have asthma and do not have health insurance, you should consider seeing a social worker. It is crucial that you be able to pay for your asthma medications, and a social worker might be able to locate a hospital or clinic for you that offers medications at a much cheaper price.
Cleaning Products
If you suffer from asthma, make sure that you consume enough Vitamin C and Vitamin E. These particular vitamins are believed to better your lung function and help manage your symptoms of asthma. It is possible to acquire the necessary amounts by eating foods or by taking dietary supplements. The vitamins work to strengthen your immunities, thereby warding off sicknesses that tend to exacerbate asthma.
If you suffer from asthma, stay away from the fumes of household cleaning products. Cleaning products contain a plethora of chemicals that are triggers to exacerbating symptoms related to asthma, as well as the attacks themselves. Use natural cleaners instead of chemical cleaners to reduce your chances of asthma attacks after cleaning.
If you have asthma, it might be helpful for you to buy a dehumidifier. Cutting down the humidity in the house will lower the amount dust mites in the air, and that will mean fewer asthma flare-ups. Dehumidifiers work by pulling the moisture out of the air of your home.
Prescriptions and over-the-counter medications can actually trigger an asthma attack. Aspirin and other NSAIDs are known to be asthma triggers. Beta blockers that are used to treat high blood pressure and heart disease can develop asthma like symptoms. If you have asthma paired with heart disease or high blood pressure, tell your doctor.
If you’ve got asthma, don’t smoke or be near smokers. If you inhale the smoke, it will harm your lungs and increase the possibility of an asthma attack. Always be mindful of this, especially in small spaces that do not have very much air flowing.
If you are an asthmatic who also has allergies, injected allergy medication may be just the thing you need to get relief. It is called omalizumab, and it is an antibody medicine used to control allergic reaction symptoms. You will need to speak to your allergist to find out if this would be helpful to you.
If you deal with asthma in your life, always choose products that are free of scents. Scented products should be avoided, such as air fresheners, perfume, and incense. These can increase the amount of air pollution in the home and even trigger an attack. New carpeting and even a fresh coat of paint can aggravate the airway and lungs as well. Keep the air inside as fresh as you can.
When you are having a difficult time with asthma, you might want to use a leukotriene inhibitor. These work by preventing the formation of leukotrienes. Leukotriene is a chemical substance that can lead to inflammation that can cause an asthma attack. The inhibitor will keep the leukotrienes from forming, which can reduce the frequency of asthma attacks that you experience.
Receiving a regular flu shot is a great tip to implement if you or someone you love suffers from asthma. Stave off these infections immediately by getting your vaccinations yearly.
There are certain types of household cleaning products that can trigger asthma attacks, and using multiple products is particularly dangerous. A great way to prevent this is to purchase some organic, non-chemical cleaning products. These all-natural products are safe when inhaled.
You should understand what triggers your asthma attacks in order for you to avoid these causes or prepare yourself for managing your symptoms. Some common asthma triggers include pet dander, pollen, and cigarette smoke. When possible, stay away from triggers of asthma symptoms in an effort to prevent a severe attack.
To lower the chances of an asthma attack, keep your house as clean as can be, especially the bedroom. Never allow anyone to smoke in the home of an asthmatic, and consider using plastic to cover your mattress and pillows. If you clean with any harsh chemicals or bleach, make sure to ventilate thoroughly afterwards.
If you suffer from asthma, it’s best to avoid pillows full of feathers. Feathers can trigger asthma symptoms and reduce lung function. Your other bedding, such as sheets, blankets and comforters, should be hypoallergenic, too.
If you have asthma, or if your children have asthma, it is vital that you receive the flu shot yearly. Avoid a lot of these infections by getting vaccinated each year.
For many people, their homes can be triggering their asthma, or even causing their asthma in the first place. These triggers inside the home are usually spores, mold and dust. To keep yourself healthy and avoid asthma attacks, you may need to hire an inspector to come out once a year to test your home and remove any irritants. Furthermore, thorough and frequent cleaning will ensure that allergens and other possible triggers do not accumulate in your home.
Sleep with a feather-less pillow if you have asthma. The feathers can make asthma worse and take away from your ability to breathe. Same thing with bedding – purchase sheets and a comforter that are constructed from hypoallergenic materials.
Protect yourself against breathing in cold air that aggravates your asthma by wearing a scarf that covers your nose and mouth. Filtering and warming air before you inhale it can help prevent asthma attacks. Cold air can be a nuisance and breathing it has actually proven to trigger asthma attacks. This is especially true for younger children who have severe or moderate asthma.
When you are cleaning your home, it is always better to use a wet mop rather than sweeping your floors. The action of sweeping can swirl up a whole cloud of asthma-triggering particles. When you need to dust, do so with a damp rag instead of a feather duster so that you reduce spreading around anything that will trigger your asthma.
Know the right way to use any asthma medication you are taking, in particular your rescue medication. Asthma is a condition traditionally treated with a combination of a regular medicine and an emergency medicinal inhaler. Because asthma can be a lifelong issue, it is vital to take both regular and rescue medications according to the instructions.
Contact with animals and pets should be avoided for asthma sufferers. An allergy to an animal will worsen asthma symptoms, and an animal can carry enough dust or pollen to trigger an attack.
If you are taking your prescriptions with you on a flight, make sure to take your prescription. The written prescription will help you get through security without difficulty, because it establishes that your nebulizer and supplies are medically necessary.
Bed Linens
Do not make the decision to smoke. If you have asthma, you could have serious health complications from smoking. Smoke is an irritant to sensitive lungs, ans asthmatics should neither smoke nor be around people who’re smoking.
Your bed linens are where pollen, dust and other allergens like to collect. You can cut down on these irritants or eliminate them altogether by washing your bedding and pillow cases in very hot water once a week. These fresh bed linens will let you breathe easier when sleeping.
If you experience a sudden asthma attack, staying calm is extremely important. Locate your inhaler, inhale deeply with the spray, and allow 30 seconds to pass before you reuse it. If this procedure does not stop your attack, seek immediate treatment from a healthcare professional. Get someone to call an ambulance or get you to a hospital. Inhaling and exhaling into a paper bag can slow your breathing while en route.
You want to make certain you visit more than just one doctor. Your family doctor will be in charge of your asthma treatment, but seeing a specialist can provide you with invaluable help. A pulmonologist, allergist, nutritionist and the staff at asthma centers can discuss a variety of treatments with you, to help you be sure you are following up on every possible good treatment available.
If inhaler use happens more than two times in each of your weeks, you must schedule an appointment with your doctor about this and possibly adjust your medication. Having to use your inhaler multiple times means the medicine you’re receiving isn’t working well enough and needs to be changed. This is also true if you find yourself refilling the inhaler prescription more than twice in a calendar year.
If pollen is present in the air, anyone with asthma should stay inside. While asthma isn’t a type of allergy, those with asthma are frequently bothered by the same kinds of irritants that cause problems for allergy sufferers. Asthma suffers can now minimize exposure to outdoor pollutants and irritants by checking online for current air quality in their areas.
Make sure you schedule regular checkups with your doctor every few months to keep a heads up on your asthmatic condition. Frequent check-ups help your doctor evaluate the effectiveness of your current treatment plan and revise the plan as needed. You are in charge of scheduling your visits with your physician in order for him or her to properly take care of you.
It is not uncommon for those suffering with asthma to be interested in finding out how asthma can impact their daily lives. The reason for this article was to give key advice on treating asthma so you can enjoy your life more. Use the advice, and you can see improvements in your asthma.
Identifying your personal triggers is one of the best ways you can learn to stop an asthma attack before it occurs. Think about maintaining an ashtma journal so you can record possible triggers as they come up, and then discuss them with your doctor. Once you realize what these triggers are, take measures to eliminate these things from your environment.