Asthma is a serious condition that can affect people of any age or gender. In addition to following the advice of your doctor, you should always be watchful of warning signs that indicate your health is at risk. In this article, you will find a variety of different techniques that you can use to help conquer your asthma symptoms and lessen the chances of having an attack.
Can you identify the exact type of asthma you’re dealing with? Being aware of your particular asthma condition can help you to effectively treat it on a daily basis. If your asthma is triggered by exercise, throw an inhaler into your gym bag. You can avoid any future crisis by knowing and figuring out patterns of the symptoms you have.
To keep your child healthy, make sure they are never around smoke. It has been medically proven that smoking can cause asthma or make existing symptoms worse. You should also make sure your child is never in an environment where other people are smoking.
Avoid the things that trigger your asthma. Some people have allergies that cause asthma, and allergens such as dust and pollen can cause an attack. For others, physical activity can irritate them. Know your asthma causes so you can avoid putting yourself in a situation where you may suffer from an attack.
Cleaning Products
There are some common medications that you could be using that will cause asthma symptoms. Among these medications are aspirin and other NSAIDs. Common medications used for controlling high blood pressure often times contain beta blockers, which asthmatics may be more sensitive to. Make sure your doctor knows if you are taking such medicine and also have asthma.
Cleaning products should be avoided when you have asthma. 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 who regularly cleans the house, look for natural cleaning products which are much safer to use.
As a chronic disease, asthma must be managed continuously. Make sure that your daily routine includes taking appropriate medication to keep you free of asthma symptoms, along with additional medication to treat you for any sudden asthma attacks. Consult with your physician and allergist to find out what is best for you.
Avoid exposing yourself to any of your known asthma triggers. For some people, this can be pollen or other allergy triggers. Others experience an attack from physical activities. Determine what your trigger is so you can easily avoid an attack.
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. Make your exhalations quick and forceful. Try to force the air out of your lungs! Then take three quick breaths, next a deeper breath till your lungs fill with air, then repeat the forceful exhalation again. This creates a rhythm to your breathing, making you pay attention to the breaths you take. It also pushes the air out of your lungs, so that more air can come in. You may cough or generate sputum, this is okay, your main goal is to get your breathing back on track again.
The use of multiple (more than four) household cleansers can cause an increase in asthma attacks. Organic cleaning products should be selected due to their lack of irritating chemicals.
If you have been diagnosed with asthma, you must avoid cigarette smoke at all costs. Never smoke yourself! Avoid breathing in vapors from smoke or other chemical-type fumes. More often than not, smoke is going to trigger an unavoidable asthma attack. If you are around people who smoke, leave the area very fast.
Receiving a regular flu shot is a great tip to implement if you or someone you love suffers from asthma. Stave off as many of these infections as possible by getting vaccinated every year.
If you suffer from asthma, be sure your diet includes lots of Vitamins C and E. They help to increase the function of the lungs and control the overall symptoms of asthma. You can get these vitamins from food or take a supplement. The vitamins can help to boost the immune system, which will help you to stay healthy and less ill, which means you will have less asthma attacks.
Make sure you are aware of what triggers your asthma so you can avoid it or prepare properly. There are some quite common triggers that can invoke an attack in asthma sufferers, for example cigarette smoke, pollen, or pet hair and dander. If able, avoid anything that results in symptoms of asthma or an asthma attack.
Keep your home dust-free and get rid of any carpet in your house to help prevent asthma attacks, especially in a bedroom. Food should not be eaten outside of the kitchen, and there should be no indoor smoking. Air the house out thoroughly after cleaning and avoid the use of bleach and other harsh chemicals indoors.
Asthmatic patients should avoid using feather pillows. The feathers can make it harder to breathe right and trigger an attack. You should also look into hypoallergenic materials when buying sheets and a comforter.
If you suffer from asthma, it’s best to avoid pillows full of feathers. Feathers may trigger asthma symptoms by irritating your lungs. Be sure to keep the same advice in mind for your bedclothes. They should be made from materials that do not increase allergy symptoms.
There is good reason to make sure you have your rescue medicine for asthma in a convenient, easy to reach place. Traveling can put additional strain on your body, making you more susceptible to asthma 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.
Don’t miss your appointment for an asthma checkup simply because you aren’t currently having any problems with your condition. You can never tell when an attack will strike, or when your physician may have some better or safer advice for you to follow.
Making mouth and nose coverings such as mufflers, shawls or scarves a routine part of your winter wardrobe can help you ward off asthma attacks. This helps warm the air prior to it entering your lungs. By breathing in cold air, it has been proven that it could trigger an asthma attack more so in children that are younger and suffer from severe to moderate asthma.
Asthma generally takes a long time to develop, and the symptoms may be vague at first, making it difficult to diagnose the problem. There are some cases reported that were so severe that a person died from one asthma attack when they didn’t even know they were considered at risk. If you often have difficulty breathing or a persistent cough, it would be wise to make an appointment with your physician, so he or she can confirm whether you have asthma. If you do, your doctor can then prescribe medications to manage or treat it.
It is crucial that you know how to properly use your asthma treatments, particularly rescue inhalers. Typically, asthma is treated using normal medications along with rescue medication, like an inhaler, for emergency situations. Asthma lasts a lifetime, so you must manage your treatment and lifestyle to ensure you’re taking the best care of yourself.
Keep notes on how often you are compelled to use your inhaler each week. Using it more often than twice weekly means that you should have your asthma assessed by a doctor. If you notice an increased use in your inhaler, reexamine your management plan and check for any changes in your surroundings that may be triggering the asthma.
Although it is wise to use your inhaler as needed, be aware that the medication itself may cause problems with gums and teeth. You can prevent this by brushing your teeth and gargling immediately following the use of your inhaler.
Talk with your physician if you find that you need your inhaler more often than a couple of times weekly. This can indicate that the inhaler you are using is not working for you. Also, if you have to refill your inhaler more than twice in one year, then a visit to the doctor for a medication change is also in order.
Rescue Inhaler
Learn as much as you can about asthma. By being educated, you can treat your symptoms much more effectively. Stay current with treatment technology and get yourself the best care that you can. You can only properly treat the condition once you gain knowledge about it and the treatments that are available.
Monitor how often, each week, you need your rescue inhaler. If the inhaler is used more than twice, the asthma problems you are suffering from may not be well-managed or something else might be causing additional attacks to come on. How often you use your rescue inhaler should serve as a reminder that your environment needs to be monitored.
Schedule regular appointments with your physician to keep tabs on your asthma. This person needs to have the ability to look at your current situation so that they can make any changes as necessary. Taking on the responsibility of scheduling these regular appointments will help your doctor help you to stay healthy.
Have more than one medical professional look at your asthma problems. Your family doctor or primary care physician can be the person you go to regularly for asthma symptoms, but also talk to a few specialists. Allergists, asthma centers, pulmonologists, and even nutritionists can work with you to make sure you are taking advantage of all avenues of treatment.
The cause of asthma can be hereditary or it can be induced by environmental factors. Sometimes both factors have a role in the disease. If you have a family member with asthma, watch your children and yourself for asthma symptoms. Asthma can also be caused by repeated exposure to certain air quality problems, such as pollen, dust, mold, smoke and pollution. Stay away from such environmental contaminants and keep your children away from them, too.
If you have asthma and allergies and use a humidifier, make sure it is thoroughly cleaned as often as necessary. Not cleaning a humidifier allows bacteria to grow in the machine’s moist water tank area, and the machine will pump dangerous allergens into yoru environment every time you use it.
Keep track of allergy attacks; if you have more than two a week, see a doctor about changing your medicine. Doctors and nurses agree that two attacks per week or more can be dangerous, not to mention avoidable.
If you frequently use your inhaler (more than two to three times per week), you should talk to your doctor about alternative methods of treatment or a different prescription. If you need to use your inhaler that often, the medicine in it isn’t working as well as it should. This also goes for refills. If you find yourself refilling your inhaler in excess of twice a year, then you need to change medications.
Work on gradually training your lungs to be able to take more stress. Do not attempt a strenuous workout that will end up triggering an asthma attack.
Schedule regular visits with your doctor to check up on your asthma. Ideally these should occur every few months. This will allow your doctor to stay updated on your condition as it improves or weakens, and make the necessary changes to your treatments. You are the one who needs to make sure that these appointments happen to stay healthy.
Get your flu shot every year. Even if you rarely seem to catch the flu, you still need the shot as a smart precaution against an illness that can be a real problem for you. Anyone who suffers from asthma is more vulnerable to any respiratory or sinus infections that are associated with the flu.
Asthma is a serious medical condition that should not be underestimated. Since asthma attacks have the potential to be so dangerous, it is important that you take precautions to prevent them. For example, always carry an emergency inhaler with you, and make an effort to limit the allergens and dust in your home. Hopefully, with the help of the advice here, you can lessen your symptoms and get your asthma under control.
If you are the parent of a child under five with asthma, regularly observe them for symptoms of an attack which will necessitate a hospital trip. These signs include: having difficulty when speaking because air intake is insufficient, sucking in the stomach in an attempt to breathe and gasping for air. If you see any of these symptoms, your child should get medical help immediately.