Any medical condition that makes it difficult to breathe–especially asthma–has the potential to be absolutely terrifying. It can occur suddenly and can potentially be fatal and can limit your life. The following article is intended to give some tips to help an asthma sufferer get a better handle on their condition. Many active people lead active lives while dealing with asthma.
Asthma is ongoing. Therefore, it also requires continual management of your health. 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. A variety of options are available for the treatment of asthmatic attacks. Consult your doctor and an allergist.
An important tip to help protect your asthma-afflicted children is to always refrain from smoking around them. Second-hand cigarette smoke is a leading cause of asthma. Ensure that your child is not around other people that smoke, either.
If you’re a sufferer of asthma, stay away from cigarette smoke. This cannot be emphasized enough: Stay away from cigarette smoke! Avoid all fumes of chemical products or breathing harmful vapors. This can cause an asthma attack, and you may be unable to bring it under control. Do everything you can to avoid cigarette smoke, air pollution, allergens and harsh chemical fumes to keep your asthma symptoms under control.
If you are suffering from a mild or moderate asthma attack, expel all the air from your lungs. Exhale quickly and hard. Forcefully push the air out from your lungs. Take in three breaths, and then a deeper breath until your lungs are full of air. Then exhale with force again. This method forces you to pay close attention to your breathing and create a steady rhythm. It pushes air from your lungs so you can breathe more in. Do not be alarmed if you cough or generate excess mucous; this is perfectly normal. Your only concern is to return your breathing to normal.
Resist the urge to turn on a fan if you find yourself in a room filled with dust. An asthma attack can be easily triggered by the moving dust. Open some windows if you want fresh air.
If you find that you are in a dusty room, do not put on any type of fan. A fan will spread dust and debris all over. This can very easily aggravate your asthma, and cause serious symptoms. If you wish to have a breeze, open a window instead of running a fan.
Consider getting allergy shots if you have asthma that is caused by allergies that aren’t under control. Your allergist may recommend a variety of medications to control your reactions and the onset of asthma.
If allergies lead to constant attacks from your asthma, there has been a recent solution that is administered via injection that provides long term care! There are antibody medications used to control allergic reactions that come recommended by allergists.
Use the inhaler properly. Find a good place and follow all of the directions that have been provided by the maker of the product. The inhaler is only beneficial if the medicine gets to your lungs. Spray the required dosage into your mouth while inhaling air. Continue holding your breath for approximately 10 seconds. This way, the medication will soak into the cells of your lungs.
Utilize the inhaler correctly. Find a spot that is out of the way, and follow the manufacturer’s instructions to the letter. The inhaler will only work if the medicine reaches your lungs. Inhale the air and spray the right amount down your throat. Hold in your breath for 10 seconds so the medicine works properly.
Vitamins C and E can greatly assist you in fighting asthma attacks. These particular vitamins are believed to better your lung function and help manage your symptoms of asthma. You can choose to ingest this vitamins by eating foods that are rich in the vitamins or through 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 that everyone in your family gets their flu shot. Make sure you do your best in avoiding respiratory infections at all costs if you have asthma. Precautions include washing your hands and staying current with vaccinations.
Using more than 4 different kinds of cleaning products for your house has been known to increase risks associated to asthma attacks. Try using organic cleaning products that are not comprised of irritating chemicals.
Cleaning Products
If you suffer from asthma and do not smoke, make sure to avoid people who do smoke. When you inhale tobacco smoke, particularly in small areas without much ventilation, lung function may be severely impacted, and you have a higher chance of having an attack.
It has been shown that if you use multiple varieties of cleaning products around your house, it will increase the chance of an asthma attack. A great way to prevent this is to purchase some organic, non-chemical cleaning products. These all-natural products are safe when inhaled.
In order to minimize the chance of an asthma attack, be sure to keep your living area very clean, most definitely the bedroom area. Only allow food in the kitchen, and never smoke indoors. If you clean with any harsh chemicals or bleach, make sure to ventilate thoroughly afterwards.
If you have been diagnosed with asthma then you should avoid cigarettes and smokers like the plague. As soon as you inhale any smoke from tobacco, your lungs become sensitive, which increases your risk of an attack. Just avoid any type of smoke, especially in small areas, and keep your lungs healthy to be safe.
Be aware that your asthma medication may need to be adjusted if you are suffering from a cold, flu or hay fever. Many illnesses have side effects which can cause your asthma to get much worse, leading your doctor to increase treatment. Your doctor may also add another treatment to your regimen until your illness gets better.
If you have asthma, use a pillow that doesn’t have feathers in it. Pillow feathers force the lungs to work harder and can exacerbate asthma problems. The same can be said for bedding, try to get hypoallergenic comforters and sheets.
Avoid using a feather or down pillow if you have asthma. The feathers can make asthma worse and take away from your ability to breathe. This also goes for bedding; use sheets, comforters and blankets that are crafted from hypoallergenic materials.
Think about signing up for a support group locally or online. Extremely severe asthma can be debilitating and prevent one from living a full life. In addition, a community of other asthma sufferers will let you know about changes in medications or other relevant scientific discoveries.
Make it a habit to always have some rescue medication available when you travel. Traveling can make you more likely to suffer from attacks due to the extra strain and stress on your body. You won’t be able to control factors in your environment, such as air quality, while are away from home. This also adds to the likelihood of an attack or more symptoms than you are used to at home.
Maintenance Medication
Don’t skip appointments for your checkups, even if you haven’t had any recent asthma attacks. You don’t know when another flare-up will happen, or when your physician can offer you safer or superior medicine for your symptoms.
Make sure you understand the correct way to use your asthma medication, especially any rescue medication. When you have asthma, you should be on a maintenance medication and have an emergency medicine for asthma attacks. Usually this is in the form of an inhaler. Because asthma has no cure, you must treat it carefully by taking your maintenance medication every day and using your emergency medication responsibly.
Your home is where most asthma triggers are located. Three triggers comprise the asthma triad of doom: spores, dust and mold. To ensure health and reduce the potential for asthma attacks, have a yearly inspection for the presence and removal of these hazards. Also, cleaning your house can help with this buildup.
If you are taking your prescriptions with you on a flight, make sure to take your prescription. Having written proof that the item in question is in fact medically necessary can cut down on hassles at the security check.
Monitor how often, per week, you find it necessary to use your inhaler. Using it two times or may may mean that your asthma is not as controlled as you may think it is. It could also mean that something else is bringing on these frequent attacks. How often you use your rescue inhaler should serve as a reminder that your environment needs to be monitored.
Using your preventative inhaler should be done daily. It’s important to know, though, that it can cause sores and infections near your gums and teeth. You can prevent this by brushing your teeth and gargling immediately following the use of your inhaler.
If you are cleaning, you should use a mop that is damp instead of a dry broom. If you are sweeping, you can trigger an asthma attack by stirring up a lot of allergens into the air. In the same vein, choose a damp rag as opposed to a feather duster when dusting, as this prevents dust from flying about.
Avoid smoke to prevent asthma and asthma attacks. Sometimes smoke can cause an asthma attack. Avoid triggers like vapors, chemical fumes, and cigarette smoke as much as you can. All of these will increase your asthma symptoms. If a person is smoking around you, politely ask him to smoke at times when you are somewhere else.
Anyone with asthma should limit their exposure to household pets and other types of animals. Animals are a danger to asthma sufferers who are already allergic to them, but pets also carry a wide array of dust particles and pollen, so avoiding them is a good move for anyone dealing with asthma.
Bed Linens
See a specialist. Of course your regular doctor will be the one you go to for help with your asthma, but you should also see a specialist. The allergists, pulmonologists and nutritionists in asthma centers can help you take full advantage of all treatments available.
Your bed linen could be filled with dust, pollen or other allergens. You can avoid this by making sure to wash your bed linens in hot water at least once a week. Fresh bed linens, laundered on a regular basis, will keep you breathing clearly and easily at night while you slumber.
When painting, you should buy a protective mask if you suffer from asthma. Paint could irritate asthma greatly, but using a mask will act as a protective shield needed to fight this issue. In fact, you should stay vigilant here and avoid any and all chemicals that may trigger an asthma attack.
If you do not control your asthma, it can possibly kill you. The information in this article should have shed some light on what methods of management are available to asthmatics and what you need to do to be able to live a healthy and happy life with asthma.
Identify your asthma triggers to help yourself prevent asthma attacks. Think about maintaining a journal or diary that you can review for recurring situations that led to an attack. These situations can help you detect your triggers. You can then pass this information on to your doctor. When you know what they are, do everything possible to keep away from these triggers, and get rid of them from your surroundings whenever you can.