When To See A Specialist About Your Asthma
Asthma is not always easy to diagnose, Fineman says, but you should see your doctor if youre having repeated episodes of wheezing and coughing or shortness of breath. If you’re diagnosed with the condition, work with your doctor to develop an asthma management and;action plan.
Although your primary care doctor may be able to diagnose and;treat your asthma, if your symptoms dont respond to a first-line therapy of inhaled corticosteroids and short-acting bronchodilators, Asciuto recommends that you see a lung specialist or allergy and asthma specialist.
What Causes Chronic Coughing
Smoking is a leading cause. Sooner or later, most cigarette smokers develop a chronic “smoker’s cough.” Chemical irritation is responsible but the same noxious chemicals that cause the simple smoker’s cough can lead to far more serious conditions, such as bronchitis, emphysema, pneumonia, and lung cancer. The chronic cough is always a cause of concern for smokers.
A lingering cough is also a worry for nonsmokers. Fortunately, benign problems are responsible for most chronic coughs in nonsmokers. Benign or not, persistent coughing can cause worry, embarrassment, exhaustion, and more. That’s why chronic coughs should be diagnosed and treated before they linger too long.
Dozens of conditions can cause a recurrent, lingering cough, but the lion’s share are caused by just five: postnasal drip, asthma, gastroesophageal reflux disease , chronic bronchitis, and treatment with ACE inhibitors, used for high blood pressure. Many people have several of these conditions, but in nonsmokers, the first three, singly or in combination, account for nearly all chronic coughs. The major causes of long-term coughing are listed below.
What Is The Most Important Thing To Know If You Have Asthma During Coronavirus
The most important thing an asthmatic individual should do at this time is make sure their asthma is well controlled and that they follow coronavirus precautions to prevent getting infected. Having your asthma controlled well helps keep your lung function at a higher level allowing you a better chance of getting through coronavirus in your lungs.;
Coronavirus decreases the functioning of your lungs. For example, a well-controlled asthmatic with 90% of lung function will have an easier time of handling a coronavirus infection in the lungs that decrease lung function to 60%. Compare this to a poorly-controlled asthmatic who starts at 70% of lung function and drops to 40% with a coronavirus pneumonia. Starting at a higher lung function by well-controlling and treating your asthma, will help you better fight a coronavirus infection.
Seeing your health care provider at this time is critical for you to improve your chances to beat coronavirus.;
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How To Tell If My Cough Is From Coronavirus Or Asthma
Unfortunately, people can have both asthma and coronavirus. Here are a set of tips to help understand the symptoms that you feel.
When Should You Call A Doctor For An Asthma Attack
If you think you or your child may have asthma, make an appointment with your health care provider. Some clues pointing to asthma include the following:
- wheezing,
- pain or tightness in your chest, and
- recurrent, spasmodic cough that is worse at night.
If you or your child has asthma, you should have an asthma action plan worked out in advance with your health care provider. This plan should include instructions on what to do when an asthma attack occurs, when to call the health care provider, and when to go to a hospital emergency department. The following are general guidelines only. If your provider recommends another plan for you, follow that plan.
- Take two puffs of an inhaled beta-agonist , with one minute between puffs. If there is no relief, take an additional puff of inhaled beta-agonist every five minutes. If there is no response after eight puffs, which is 40 minutes, your health care provider should be called.
- Your provider also should be called if you have an asthma attack when you are already taking oral or inhaled steroids or if your inhaler treatments are not lasting four hours.
Although asthma is a reversible disease, and treatments are available, people can die from a severe asthma attack.
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If you are in the emergency room, treatment will be started while the evaluation is still going on.
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How Do I Monitor My Daily Asthma Symptoms
National asthma guidelines suggest using a daily symptom diary such as Allergy & Asthma Networks AsthmaTracker to keep track of symptoms, peak expiratory flow rates and medications used.
What is an AsthmaTracker?
The AsthmaTracker can help your track how well your symptoms respond to your treatment plan. By writing down your symptoms, peak expiratory flow rate and medication use each day, youll notice a pattern to your symptoms and develop strategies to stop the symptoms before they can stop you.
What is a peak flow meter?
A peak flow meter is a handheld device that measures the peak expiratory flow rate , or how much air you can forcibly push out of your lungs at a particular time.
Asthma Storylines an app for managing asthma
The free Asthma Storylines app is a self-care tool for managing asthma. Track symptoms, learn more about daily patterns and record topics to discuss with your healthcare team.
How To Stop Asthma Cough
This article was co-authored by Shaun Berger, MD. Dr. Shaun Berger is a board certified Pediatrician based in the San Diego, California metro area. Dr. Berger provides comprehensive primary care for newborns, children, and adolescents, focusing on preventive medicine. Dr. Berger earned a BA in Psychology from the University of California, San Diego and an MD from the University of Illinois at Chicago. Dr. Berger then completed a residency at the UCSF/Fresno Community Medical Centers/Valley Childrens Hospital where he was elected Chief Resident. He has been awarded the UCSF Foundation Award and is a Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics.There are 16 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page.wikiHow marks an article as reader-approved once it receives enough positive feedback. In this case, 100% of readers who voted found the article helpful, earning it our reader-approved status. This article has been viewed 76,283 times.
Many people are familiar with common asthma symptoms like tightness in the chest and difficulty breathing. Coughing is another troublesome symptom of asthma, the inflammatory lung disease which narrows the breathing airways. To stop an asthma-related cough, identify and avoid your triggers, take medication to treat your asthma, and make yourself comfortable.
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How Do You Calm An Asthma Attack
A reliever inhaler is the best treatment for an asthma attack, but in case one isnt on hand, sit upright and force yourself to take long, deep breaths. It improves lung function, wont irritate airways, and slows your breathing, preventing hyperventilation. If symptoms worsen, seek emergency medical help immediately.
How Does Asthma Affect The Lungs
The lungs are made up of many tiny tubes. These tubes are called bronchioles. The bronchioles carry air in and out of the lungs. In a normal airway, air moves freely through the bronchioles and breathing is easy.When asthma is not under good control, three things change in the airways that make it hard to breathe:
- The airways become swollen. The walls thicken and make the airways smaller.
- The airways make more mucous. Mucous is a thick liquid that your body makes. Mucous normally protects the nose, throat, and airways. When you have asthma, your body makes too much mucous. This mucous can plug the airways.
- Muscles around the airways squeeze tight. Your airways have muscles around them that are usually loose. When you have asthma, these muscles can tighten.
These three things all make the airways smaller. When the airways get smaller it is hard to get air in and out. This can cause wheezing, coughing and trouble breathing.
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What Are The Signs And Symptoms Of Asthma Types
Symptoms may occur during the day or at night. If they happen at night, they may disturb your sleep.
Wheezing is the most common symptom of an asthma attack.
Current guidelines for the care of people with asthma include classifying the severity of asthma symptoms, as follows:
The exact cause of asthma is not known.
Does Melatonin Improve Sleep In Asthma
Researchers have revealed that the hormone melatonin plays a vital role in improving the sleep cycle in asthma patients. Melatonin helps in regulating human circadian rhythms and is believed to have sleep-inducing activity. Additionally, melatonin studies suggest that it affects smooth muscle tone and inflammation too. Both of which helps in improving the sleep cycle for asthma patients at night.
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Video: Phlegm And Asthma
Phlegm and asthma
0:07 Gross as it looksphlegm and mucus protect your body from infection.
0:11 A little bit of phlegm is totally normal but if your phlegm
0:18 changes in colour thickness or amount it could be a sign that you’re ill and your
0:20 asthma may be affected
0:23 if you find you’ve been coughing up more phlegm than
0:28 usual this could be a sign that your airways are inflamed this can cause
0:34 asthma symptoms like coughing wheezing shortness of breath or a tight chest
0:38 You should take your daily preventer inhaler as prescribed and it should help stop
0:42 these symptoms because it reduces the inflammation in your airways over time
0:47 if you’re doing this and still getting a lot of mucus on your chest you should
0:51 book an appointment with your doctor or ask the nurse
1:00 if you have yellow or green phlegm this might be a sign of an infection like a cold flu or a chest
1:04 infection these can often make asthma symptoms worse so it’s really important
1:09 to keep taking your preventer inhaler every day
1:15 if your phlegm is streaked with blood this is usually down to the pressure put on the blood vessels if
1:19 you’re coughing a lot the best thing you can do in this case is to see your
1:24 doctor to make sure it’s nothing to worry about if you have brown or black
1:28 tinged phlegm it usually occurs in smokers or if you have COPD chronic
1:34 obstructive lung disease as well as asthma when you stop smoking even just
Tips To Sleep Better With Severe Asthma At Night
Nocturnal asthma is associated with poor sleep quality. This condition of sleeplessness and its effects are worse for children. The average total sleep quality score of children affected by asthma is 51, which is above the clinical cut off of 41, but it indicates the pervasive sleep disturbances among this population.
Here are a few tips that can help you sleep better with asthma at night:
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What Are The Causes Of Each
Viruses, such as those that cause the common cold, can cause bronchitis as well.
People coming in contact with viruses is how these germs are spread. This can happen when someone else coughs nearby or if they touch an infected persons hands.
People who also have gastroesophageal reflux disease can get acute bronchitis if stomach acid refluxes up and into their airways.
Doctors do not know exactly why people develop asthma. They do know that people with a family history of asthma or allergies are more likely to have the condition.
Being exposed at an early age to viruses that cause respiratory infections may also contribute.
People with bronchitis should drink plenty of fluids.
There is no cure for bronchitis because a virus is the cause of the condition.
A person should instead engage in actions and behaviors that will support their immune system and give it time to fight off the virus.
Methods to treat bronchitis include:
- drinking plenty of fluids
- getting plenty of rest
- taking over-the-counter cough medicines
A doctor may sometimes prescribe an inhaler with a medication designed to help the airways open more if a person is experiencing significant wheezing related to their bronchitis.
An example of this treatment is an albuterol inhaler. This is the same medication doctors also use to treat asthma.
Avoiding asthma triggers, such as smoke, allergens, or other irritants, can also help.
What Should I Do If I Have A Severe Asthma Attack
A severe asthma attack needs immediate medical care. The first step is your rescue inhaler. A rescue inhaler uses fast-acting medicines to open up your airways. Its different than your normal maintenance inhaler, which you use every day. You should only use the rescue inhaler in an emergency.
If your rescue inhaler doesnt help or you dont have it with you, go to the emergency department if you have:
- Anxiety or panic.
- Bluish fingernails, bluish lips or gray or whitish lips or gums .
- Chest pain or pressure.
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How To Treat Asthma Cough
Treating an asthma cough involves taking controller medications. Corticosteroids for inhaling will help reduce the inflammation in the lungs, which is said to be the biggest cause of an asthma cough. Inhaled corticosteroids are usually a long-term solution for cough variant asthma. For getting relief in the short term, oral corticosteroids are usually prescribed. Quick-relief inhalers are recommended to keep handy to take care of coughing and wheezing incidences. These quick-relief inhalers, though, are only meant for using once or twice in a week. You may also use them before exercising or if you are suffering from a disease and are generally feeling unwell, triggering a bout of coughing.
Oral medications for relieving asthma cough include leukotriene modifiers such as montelukast, brand name Singulair. These drugs work by treating the symptoms of asthma which are associated with allergic rhinitis.
There are also some alternative treatments that you can opt for treating an asthma cough. However, you should not stop taking your prescribed medications for other complementary treatments such as homeopathy. Your doctor will be the best person to advise you on whether the following options can provide relief in cough variant asthma:
- Pranayama
- Herbal therapy with gingko and dried ivy
What Is The Difference Between Cough
The main difference, as previously stated, is that cough-variant asthma is characterised by a dry cough that does not bring up mucus, and that is not accompanied by wheezing or other symptoms.
Another difference between the two is that cough-variant asthma may be harder to diagnose than regular asthma. This is because of the absence of other symptoms, and because there are many conditions that can cause a dry cough.
If you are suffering from a persistent dry cough that has lasted for more than 3 weeks, you should seek medical advice.
Causes of a persistent cough other than asthma include:
- Chronic bronchitis
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What Is The Asthma Cough Reflex
Nerves line your airways. Cough receptors are in your upper airways. This includes your larynx and pharynx. These nerves respond to certain irritants. When this happens, they send signals to your cough receptors. This induces a cough reflex.2-4
These irritants may include things you inhale. Examples include respiratory viruses or microscopic particles. They may also include things within your own body. These include nasal drainage and even asthma.
Your cough receptors receive the signal. They, in turn, send signals to the cough center of your brain. Its in your brainstem. It sends signals to the muscles of respiration. Inspiratory muscles contract, thereby causing you to take a deep breath. Expiratory muscles contract, thereby causing you to forcibly exhale. The force here is quite powerful. It can reach up to 300 mmHg.2-4
The goal is to force out foreign particles. Some of these particles may be balled up in sputum. So, this sputum is brought to the back of your throat. It can then be swallowed to be dissolved in stomach juices. It can also be spit-up.