Asthma is a chronic disease that requires changes in many areas of your life. It is important to take proactive measures to get asthma under control before you experience a critical event that puts you in the hospital. This article can help you deal with your asthma better.
If your child or another loved one suffers from asthma, you should be sure to never smoke cigarettes when you’re near them. One leading cause of issues in children who have asthma is that people smoke around them. You should never put your children in a situation where they are exposed to people who are smoking.
As a chronic disease, asthma must be managed continuously. Be certain that you are prescribed or using the appropriate medicine to manage your daily symptoms, and that you have an emergency medicine readily available in the event of an attack. To determine the best options for you personally, consult your physician and an allergist.
It is important that you try to stay clear of cleaning products if you have asthma. The complex list of ingredients on many cleaning products makes it difficult know which ones have the chemical compounds that might aggravate asthma symptoms or even initiate an attack. If you are the person in your house who does the cleaning, there natural product solutions which are safe for you to use.
If you find yourself in a room that is dusty, don’t turn on any kind of fan. When you turn on the fans they will move the dust in the room around and this can trigger your asthma very easily. Encourage air to flow throughout the room by just opening a nearby window or door.
Some medications that you may take unknowingly can cause you to have asthma symptoms. Various NSAIDs and aspirin have been reported to do this. This can also be caused by beta blockers, like medications that are used in managing high blood pressure or heart problems. It is important to let your doctor know if you suffer from asthma together with any of these conditions.
Everyone in your family, including you, should get the flu vaccination every year. If you are afflicted with asthma, avoid getting any infections if possible. The easiest way to start is by performing routine hand-washing, limiting your touching of surfaces while in public places, and getting vaccinations recommended by your doctor.
If you are experiencing a moderately severe attack, try to first exhale completely. Exhale quickly and forcefully. Expel the air in your lungs with great force! After that, take in three shallow breaths and one deep breath. Once your lungs are full again, do another forceful exhale. Using this strategy provides your breathing with a rhythm that forces you to focus on it. It also expels air from your lungs so more can enter. It may cause you to cough or even generate sputum, but that’s fine, you goal is for your breathing to get back to normal.
Both Vitamin C and Vitamin E are important if you suffer from asthma. It is widely believed that these vitamins can help control asthma symptoms by improving lung function. It is possible to acquire the necessary amounts by eating foods or by taking dietary supplements. These vitamins will also provide a boost to your immune system. This will prevent respiratory illnesses that can trigger your asthma attacks.
If you are suffering from asthma, stay away from any type of cigarette smoke. Asthma creates breathing problems by constricting airways, and cigarette smoking only exacerbates the problem. Avoid vapors and chemical fumes from cigarettes. This can cause your asthma to flare up, causing an attack that may be uncontrollable. If others are smoking and you are nearby, get away from them immediately.
Stay away from cigarette smoke, even if it’s secondhand. Tobacco smoke can bring on an asthma attack, especially within areas without good air flow. The smoke restricts the ability of your lungs to breathe, making an attack much more likely to occur.
If you are dealing with asthma, you would benefit from buying a dehumidifier. By bringing down the humidity level, it will reduce dust mites and reduce asthma flare-ups. Dehumidifiers keep your home dry by keeping the humidity out.
While everyone appreciates the look and feel of a clean house, asthma sufferers in particular benefit from a healthy environment as it can decrease the risk of asthma attacks, especially in a sleeping area. Also, you should keep food confined to the kitchen, and opt to smoke outdoors only. Once you have cleaned your house, air it out; you should also eliminate utilizing any toxic chemicals inside.
An increased propensity for asthma attacks has been linked with the utilization of multiple cleaning products. The more you use, the greater the risk of an attack. Use organic products as often as possible, as these contain fewer harsh chemicals.
Be certain you are aware of what triggers an asthma attack so you can avoid it, or at least be prepared to handle the symptoms. The majority of asthma sufferers suffer attacks when exposed to some common trigger, including allergens or cigarette smoke. Avoid your asthma triggers as much as you can to prevent attacks.
Avoid exposure to secondhand smoke because it is as dangerous to asthmatics as smoking a cigarette. When you breathe in smoke, especially in small spaces, it diminishes breathing ability, which greatly increases the probability of an asthma attack.
Keep all your regularly scheduled asthma appointments, regardless of how you are feeling. You never know when you might suffer another flare-up, or when your doctor might have a better or safer medication to prescribe for your symptoms.
Unscented products are best for asthma sufferers. Scented products, like air fresheners, incense and perfume, raise indoor pollution levels and can trigger asthma attacks. Irritating odors are also given off by new carpeting and paints. Try to make it your goal to keep the indoor air as fresh and allergen free as possible.
Think about becoming a member of a support group, whether it is online or somewhere local. Asthma, especially if it is severe, can be quite debilitating and can keep you from being an active participant in life. As science marches on, new medications and treatments for asthma become available, and you can keep abreast of this progress through a good support group.
Asthma takes a long time to develop and doesn’t yield obvious symptoms. A few people have even died from an asthma attack without knowing they even had this dangerous condition. Therefore, if you have trouble breathing or a constant cough, you may want to seek a medical professional to determine if you have asthma. Your physician can also determine whether you need medication for either asthma prevention or asthma treatment.
Understand how to properly use your own asthma medication, particularly the rescue medication. Typical asthma treatment includes regular medicine supplemented by a rescue inhaler. It’s important to use both forms of medication properly to treat your chronic condition.
If you need to travel with your asthma medication, particularly if you plan on bringing a nebulizer or other large equipment, it can be helpful to obtain a letter from your doctor explaining their use. When you have written proof that these items are necessary it can help speed along the security procedures.
Asthma Attack
Keep an asthma diary and record how often, each week, you must use a rescue inhaler. Using it more often than twice weekly means that you should have your asthma assessed by a doctor. Remembering the times you use the inhaler provides a good way to keep checking your environment, as well as other things in your plan to manage your asthma.
Asthma is a disease that effects the respiratory system, and can take many years to develop, often times going undetected. There are lots of cases where people die of an asthma attack without knowing they had asthma. It is advised that you seek out a medical professional if you ever have shortness of breath or experience constant coughing; this may be a sign that you suffer from asthma and need proper medication to prevent an asthma attack and keep your condition under control.
When you are making an effort to control asthma, do not smoke. Inhaling smoke makes it harder for you to breathe and might result in an asthma attack. You should stay far away from smoke of any kind, chemicals and vapors. All of these air-borne pollutants can greatly increase your asthma symptoms. If a person is smoking around you, politely ask him to smoke at times when you are somewhere else.
If you’re flying with asthma medications, be sure you get a prescription from your physician. Without a written prescription stating that the item is medically necessary, you may experience frustration and delays at security checkpoints.
For people with serious asthma, exposure to household pets should be limited. While allergies to dander or animal hair can possibly complicate your asthma, even those with no such allergies can have asthma attacks by inhaling the pollen and dust animals usually carry about with them.
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. One effective way in preventing these side effects and problems is to brush and gargle right away after you use your inhaler.
See more than one doctor. Your usual doctor will be able to help you, but you should also consider seeing a specialist. Think about going to a pulmonologist, an allergist or even a nutritionist, depending on what is triggering your attacks.
If you believe that your symptoms are becoming much worse, make sure you see your doctor. Apply the advice you have read in this article to help you get around the symptoms.
Always try your best to remain calm if you begin having an asthma attack. Use the inhaler, pause for 30 seconds then use it again. If the inhaler does not provide immediate help, get medical help right away. Gesture to someone to call 911 if you can’t speak, or have them drive you to the nearest hospital. On your way to the hospital, breath in and out in a paper bag in order to help calm yourself and get your breathing down to a normal pace.