Living with asthma is very hard, but if you manage it correctly, you can lead a better life. There are many ways to control or prevent asthma from interfering with your life. The following tips will make it easier to manage your asthma.
Second hand smoke can cause asthma to develop in children, and can trigger an asthma attack if they already suffer from asthma. Secondhand smoke is something that can lead to serious asthma. While making sure to never light up around your children, it is also vital that you make sure your kids are not around others who do not show the same courtesy.
If asthma is something you suffer from, do not smoke or spend time around smokers, much less any source of vapors and fumes. Thus, you need to avoid cigarettes and cigars and be vigilant about steering clear of environmental or workplace exposure to smoke.
Always be very mindful of the type of medications you’re taking. Some meds out there might just trigger an asthma attack. Some of these include aspirin and NSAIDs. Some medications can cause your asthma to be worse such as beta blockers for high blood pressure or heart disease. Tell your doctor if you are an asthmatic and you are using these medications.
Never smoke around a child with asthma, or you could kill them! Secondhand smoke is a leading cause of asthma, and it can also trigger an asthma attack. It’s best to also keep your child away from places in which others will be smoking.
If you are having an asthma attack (mild or moderate), you need to try to force air out of the lungs. Blow your breath out as hard and fast as you can. Force your lungs to expel as much air as possible. Then, follow three short intakes of breath with one longer inhalation until your lungs are filled with air, although not uncomfortably so. Finally, expel the air from your lungs with force again. Using this strategy provides your breathing with a rhythm that forces you to focus on it. This technique also forces the air from your lungs to enable more air to come in. You might cough or produce sputum, but that is fine; you are trying to get breathing under control again.
Chemical Cleaners
If you are suffering from asthma, stay away from any type of cigarette smoke. Don’t smoke! Avoid breathing in any of the vapors or other chemical fumes. This could trigger a serious asthma attack, and you may have trouble preventing it from happening. If you are around people who smoke, leave the area very fast.
Be careful of chemical cleaners if you are asthmatic. Many chemicals that are in these products can cause the triggering of asthma attacks. Use natural cleaners instead of chemical cleaners to reduce your chances of asthma attacks after cleaning.
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. An antibody medicine under the name Omalizumab can be used to reduce these symptoms caused by allergies and might be prescribed by your allergist.
Keep away from any and everything that you know triggers your asthma attacks. This is different for everyone, but some people, things like dust or pollen can trigger an attack. For others, physical activities can cause them. Keep a journal of your attacks so that you can start to learn what your triggers are so that you can prevent flareups before they begin.
Properly use the inhaler every time you must use it. Locate a quiet place, and follow the label to a tee. You can inhale all you want, but it’s useless if the medication doesn’t make it to your lungs. Spray the stated dose of medicine into your mouth as you inhale. Hold in your breath for 10 seconds so the medicine works properly.
If allergy symptoms cause you to have moderate to severe asthma attacks, there is a medication available that can help for extended periods of time. 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 suffer from asthma, be sure your diet includes lots of Vitamins C and E. Both vitamins improve lung function, helping you to better resist asthma attacks and other negative symptoms. You can gain vitamins from supplements or the old fashioned way, from food! You can help out your immune system that can help stave off asthma triggers!
If you are dealing with asthma, you would benefit from buying a dehumidifier. By decreasing the humidity you have in your home, it will decrease the dust mites, which will then decrease your asthma from flaring up. Try running a dehumidifier to dry up the air in your home.
Asthma attacks have been found to be more likely in homes where four or more different cleaning products are in use. Try to use organic based cleaning products that are not harmful to asthma sufferers.
If you have asthma, avoid people who are smoking. Tobacco smoke causes your lung function to decrease, increasing the risk of a very severe attack, especially in enclosed rooms without much air flow or ventilation.
If you have asthma, avoid people who smoke. The functionality of your lungs can be dramatically impaired if you inhale tobacco smoke, especially in areas with little ventilation, and you run a greater risk of attack.
Support Group
Your asthma treatments will likely increase when you suffer from hay fever or a cold. These illnesses have side effects that can cause asthma to flare up and make an increase in medication necessary. Your regular medication may also need to be combined with other treatments your doctor may recommend.
If you or a loved one suffers from asthma, a support group may help. You can find support groups online or in your community. Left untreated, asthma can be very debilitating and prevent you from enjoying your normal activities. 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.
A humid home environment is a healthy environment for mildew and mold to develop. These can very easily cause an attack. So try your best to make your home as dry as possible. Using a dehumidifier during cold weather and turning on your air conditioner when the weather gets hot again can help keep humidity out of your home to ensure your asthma is under control.
If your home is damp, it can encourage the growth of mildew and mold. These can very easily cause an attack. So, it makes sense to keep dry air in your home. When it’s cold, a dehumidifier can keep moisture to a minimum; in hot months, your A/C unit will do the same thing.
When preventing asthma, stay away from smoke. Smoke can cause you to have an asthma attack. The fumes from chemicals, or smoke from cigarettes, should be avoided at all costs. Exposing yourself to these pollutants can have a significant effect on your asthma symptoms. If there are smokers around you, you may want to ask them if they will smoke in another area.
Asthma is a condition that typically will develop over a long period of time, with symptoms that are not very obvious. There have been a few cases where a person dies from their first attack, because they didn’t know they suffered from the condition. Because of this, persistent respiratory problems need to be checked out by a doctor, who may prescribe medication to treat existing symptoms or prevent new ones from appearing.
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. Nutritionists, allergists, and pulmonologists are just some of the advisers who can change your life for the better.
People with asthma should not smoke. If you have asthma, you could have serious health complications from smoking. The lungs of someone with asthma are irritated by smoking, whether by that person or someone nearby.
If you have asthma and allergies and use a humidifier, make sure it is thoroughly cleaned as often as necessary. The moist environment of a humidifier can become a breeding ground for bacteria, which can irritate allergies or trigger an asthma attack.
As this article shows, you can control the symptoms of asthma and keep on with your daily routine. Having asthma doesn’t need to be the end of the world; if you are well-educated on living with asthma, your quality of life will improve.
It is important to remain calm during an asthma attack. Locate your inhaler, inhale deeply with the spray, and allow 30 seconds to pass before you reuse it. Seek help if your attack gets worse. Get someone to call an ambulance or get you to a hospital. Breathe into a paper bag for assistance in slowing your breathing during the trip to the hospital.