What Can Relieve Your Asthma Attack
There are a number of things that can help control the symptoms of asthma, and the severity of an asthma attack. These include: Visiting your doctor for regular asthma checkups. Using an asthma management plan that contains your asthma triggers, medications and other preventative steps like allergy shots. Medications like inhalers, nasal sprays, oral steroids and nebulizers, which treat the inflammation in the airways to make breathing easier. Asthma medications such as pulmicort and flovent..
Watch How To Help Someone Who Is Having An Asthma Attack
What is asthma?
Asthma is a medical condition that affects the airways the tubes that carry air in and out of the lungs. When someone has an asthma attack, these tubes become narrowed, making it difficult to breathe in and out.
How can I tell if someone is having an asthma attack?
People with asthma should be able to let you know if they are having an attack.
Someone having an asthma attack will have difficulty breathing and speaking, and may cough and wheeze. They may be very anxious and distressed as they struggle to breathe.In some cases, their lips, earlobes and nail beds may turn greyish-blue because there isnt enough oxygen in their body.
What sort of medication will someone with asthma use?
Someone who has asthma will normally have an inhaler that their doctor has prescribed. They may also have a spacer, which makes the inhaler more effective.
If someone is having an asthma attack they should know how to use their inhaler and spacer but they may need your help in finding them.
What does an inhaler look like?
Inhalers can come in many different sizes and shapes. Inhalers to relieve asthma attacks are usually blue. Inhalers that prevent asthma attacks may be brown or white.
How do you use an inhaler?
If a person has asthma they should know how to use their inhaler, they may need your help getting it for them. They should take it as normal. If that doesnt help they can take one or two puffs every 30 or 60 seconds until theyve had 10 puffs.
Asthma Signs & Symptoms
People with asthma experience symptoms due to inflammation in the airways. They might only occur when you encounter an asthma trigger. Common symptoms that can lead to a diagnosis of asthma include:
- Persistent or recurring coughing: which often occurs at night or early in the morning, although it can happen at any time. Coughing is a major feature of asthma, especially in children and can sometimes be the only sign of asthma.
- Wheezing: is difficulty breathing accompanied by a whistling sound coming from your airways
- Shortness of breath: gives you the feeling that you cant get enough air into your lungs, and may even find it difficult to eat, sleep or speak
- Chest tightness: an unpleasant sensation of heaviness or pressure in the chest that can make it hard to breathe
- Increased mucus production: is characterized by high levels of thick fluid or phlegm accumulating in your airways
- Difficulty breathing while exercising: having trouble breathing while performing physical activities can be a sign of asthma
- Losing Sleep: Being unable to sleep through the night because of breathing troubles
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Symptoms Of An Asthma Attack
Signs that you may be having an asthma attack include:
- your symptoms are getting worse
- your reliever inhaler is not helping
- youâre too breathless to speak, eat or sleep
- your breathing is getting faster and it feels like you cannot catch your breath
- your peak flow score is lower than normal
- children may also complain of a tummy or chest ache
The symptoms will not necessarily occur suddenly. In fact, they often come on slowly over a few hours or days.
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How To Treat An Asthma Attack Without An Inhaler
You should always take your medication even when you feel your condition has improved. Asthma requires consistent care and proper management, so you need to have an inhaler to use when you experience an attack. But what should you do if you dont have an inhaler when you have an asthma attack?
Here’s how to treat an asthma attack if you dont have your inhaler:
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Preventing An Asthma Attack
The best way to prevent having an asthma attack is to make sure that your asthma is under control. People with asthma typically use two types of medication:
- Long-term. This involves medication that you take every day to control airway inflammation and prevent asthma attacks. These medications can include things like inhaled corticosteroids, leukotriene modifiers and long-acting bronchodilators.
- Quick-relief. This is rescue medication that you take for short-term relief of asthma symptoms. These medications are referred to as short-acting bronchodilators and work to open your airways.
You should also work with your doctor to develop a personalized asthma action plan. This can help you to better understand and control your asthma. An asthma action plan includes:
- your asthma triggers and how to avoid them
- how and when to take your medications, both for symptom control and for quick relief
- indicators of when youre controlling your asthma well and when you need to seek emergency medical attention
Your family and those close to you should have a copy of your asthma action plan so that theyll know what to do if you have an asthma attack. Additionally, it may be helpful to keep it on your phone as well, in case you need to reference it quickly.
Its possible that you may still have some questions regarding asthma attacks. Well try to answer some of these now.
Make Them A Hot Drink
A hot drink, like a cup of coffee or tea, can help to open the airways, providing some short-term relief, and giving you time to seek medical assistance.
If you or someone that you know has experienced symptoms of asthma or has been diagnosed and needs further help, you can learn more by contacting Allergy and Asthma Center, P.C.
The Allergy and Asthma Center, P.C. is committed to offering a friendly and relaxed approach to treating asthma patients of all ages, from all walks of life. Firmly believing that all patients needs are unique and that everyone deserves a fully personalized consultation and treatment plan. Get in touch with our friendly and knowledgeable staff today at 920-969-1768, for more information and help.
But have you talked about what you should do to manage a minor asthma attack if you forget your asthma inhaler? Knowing how to restore natural breathing and survive an asthma attack without your inhaler is an essential life-saving skill.
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When To Call 999
Dont delay getting help if you have an asthma attack. Call 999 if your reliever isnt helping, or lasting four hours, or youre worried at any time.
An asthma attack is a real emergency, and could be life-threatening, says Asthma + Lung UKs in-house GP, Dr Andy Whittamore.
Getting help when you need it is so important, to make sure youre treated quickly. Never think youre wasting anyones time.
Stay Calm While You Wait
While waiting for medical assistance to arrive, there are a few things you can do to decrease your symptoms when you dont have your inhaler with you:
- Eat a cough drop or mint. This can help reduce the coughing and wheezing temporarily.
- Breathe in steam. Get to a faucet and turn the water on hot, then breathe in the steam so it can loosen up your tightened airways.
- Take deep breaths. Breathe deeply in through your nose and out through your mouth. This can keep you from hyperventilating or passing out. Maintain steady breaths and focus on your breathing.
If you can, try to remember to tell yourself that everything will be alright. Help is on the way, and even without your medicine you can come down from an asthma attack.
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Eat A Banana With Black Pepper
This remedy might sound odd, but if you eat a banana sprinkled with black pepper, it can help stop wheezing and relieve congestion and coughing, enabling you to breathe more easily.
Why? Black pepper thins the thick mucus in the airways and the banana contains nutrients that relieve inflammation, helping you to breathe. The next time you have an asthma attack without your inhaler, head to the kitchen and try this remedy. If you dont have black pepper on hand, ground cinnamon, ginger root, and red cayenne pepper are alternatives that have the same healing powers of black pepper.
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How Do You Beat Asthma Naturally
If you suffer from asthma, you will be interested to hear that you can actually master your symptoms through some simple lifestyle changes and natural remedies. Here are 5 cheap and effective tips you can start with today: 1. Add more fruits, vegetables, nuts and unprocessed grains to your diet. Eat more starchy foods like potatoes, whole wheat pasta, brown rice, oats and buckwheat, which contain complex carbs that prevent your blood sugar from spiking too high. 2. Curse those triggers wherever you are. Sniff tobacco? Dont hang around cigarettes. Are your allergies coming back? Avoid the things that make you sneeze. While its not possible to completely remove yourself from an asthma trigger, you can control your exposure. 3. Drink a glass of hot water with lemon every day. This may sound strange, but the vitamin C and potassium in the lemon fight bronchial narrowing. 4. Drink peppermint tea twice a day. Peppermint is a natural expectorant, which means it has anti-histamine properties that will help you to breathe easier. 5. Relax and meditate. Stress exacerbates asthma symptoms and makes asthma worse. Be sure to spend time relaxing in order to manage stress..
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Asthma Doctor In New York
The best time to manage an asthma attack is before you ever have one! That is why you should see Dr. Mayank Shukla for asthma treatment in Queens. Dr. Shukla will diagnose, treat, and help manage your asthma symptoms. He works with children as well as adults. If you need asthma care, contact Dr. Shukla today!
How Is Asthma Treated
Take your medicine exactly as your doctor tells you and stay away from things that can trigger an attack to control your asthma.
Everyone with asthma does not take the same medicine.
You can breathe in some medicines and take other medicines as a pill. Asthma medicines come in two typesquick-relief and long-term control. Quick-relief medicines control the symptoms of an asthma attack. If you need to use your quick-relief medicines more and more, visit your doctor to see if you need a different medicine. Long-term control medicines help you have fewer and milder attacks, but they dont help you while you are having an asthma attack.
Asthma medicines can have side effects, but most side effects are mild and soon go away. Ask your doctor about the side effects of your medicines.
Remember you can control your asthma. With your doctors help, make your own asthma action plan. Decide who should have a copy of your plan and where he or she should keep it. Take your long-term control medicine even when you dont have symptoms.
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How Can I Open My Lungs Without An Inhaler
First thing to do is to stop smoking or any other harmful gasses that you take in your body. You can also do some exercises like breathing in and out through your nose, and hold the breath for a few seconds before exhaling. If you feel youre getting enough air, you can take it a step further by actually sucking the air into your lungs rather than actively breathing. This will actually help your lungs to open up even further. The lungs are typically the tightest part of the body because they are the strongest muscles around. They are used in so many different ways on a daily basis as well, which is why they get so stiff. If you breathe too deeply too often, you could be causing this to happen on a regular basis. Instead, try holding the breath for a few seconds each time you exhale until youre fully out of breath. You might need to do a few breathing exercises to open up your lungs, but they are well worth it..
Need For Emergency Care
There are ways to manage mild-to-moderate asthma symptoms without an inhaler. However, if you experience any of the following conditions, seek emergency medical care immediately.
- Extreme difficulty breathing or stopping breathing
- Bluish color to the lips and face, called cyanosis
To all kinds of asthma attacks, seek out asthma treatment in Queens with Dr. Shukla.
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Move Away From Triggers
The presence of asthma triggers wont only cause an attack, they can also make your symptoms worse. Be sure to try to get away from things that may be triggering your asthma attack.
For example, if youre in an area where people are smoking cigarettes, you should move away promptly.
Its also important to know your triggers. Common triggers include:
- allergens, such as pet dander, pollen, or certain foods
You should always be sure to seek immediate emergency medical treatment if you experience any of the following symptoms during an asthma attack:
- your symptoms continue to get worse even after treatment
- you cant speak except in short words or phrases
- youre straining your chest muscles in an effort to breathe
- your shortness of breath or wheezing is severe, particularly in the early morning or late-night hours
- you begin to feel drowsy or tired
- your lips or face appear blue when youre not coughing
Symptoms that indicate that you could be experiencing an asthma attack include:
- severe shortness of breath
What Are Some Common Asthma Triggers
According to the University of Maryland Medical Center, some of the most common asthma triggers include:
- Dust, cockroach waste, pet dander, indoor and outdoor mold, and pollen.
- Air pollutants, such as smoke, perfumes, diesel particles, sulfur dioxide, high ozone levels, and fumes from paint, cleaning products, and gas stoves.
- Changes in the weather, especially in temperature and humidity.
- Aspirin and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs can trigger asthma in up to 5% of adult asthma patients.
- Activities that affect breathing, such as exercising, laughing, crying, or yelling
- Stress and anxiety
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Use An Albuterol Inhaler
The first-line treatment for an asthma attack is an inhaler, says Madsen. If you have severe asthma, it may be helpful to carry your rescue inhaler with you at all times so youre prepared in the event of an asthma attack. People commonly carry their inhaler in their purse, backpack, or pocket.
Quick-acting or rescue inhalers generally contain albuterol, a medication that helps to open up your airway. Taking a puff of albuterol should quickly relieve symptoms like wheezing and shortness of breath.
If you are still experiencing asthma symptoms after taking your inhaler, you can take albuterol one more time after 20 minutes. But if you are still feeling extreme shortness of breath after the second treatment, you should go to an urgent care clinic or see your doctor immediately.
Small children, who may have trouble using inhalers, can also take albuterol using a nebulizer, a machine that uses a plastic tube with a mouthpiece to deliver medication in the form of a mist.
If your symptoms are so severe that you are unable to talk due to breathlessness, or your lips or face turn slightly blue, you should get medical help immediately.
When Is It An Asthma Emergency
- Your symptoms get worse very quickly
- You have severe shortness of breath, cant speak comfortably or lips look blue
- You get little or no relief from your reliever inhaler
Dial 000Say this is an ASTHMA EMERGENCY
Not sure if it’s asthma?
If a person stays conscious and their main problem seems to be breathing, follow the asthma first aid steps. Asthma reliever medicine is unlikely to harm them even if they do not have asthma.
If someone is unconscious, start life support.
Severe Allergic Reactions/Anaphylaxis
If someone has sudden breathing problems AND they are allergic to foods, insect stings or medicines:
Give adrenaline first. Use their own autoinjector if available.
Do this even if there are no other signs or symptoms of a severe allergic reaction.
Then follow the asthma first aid steps.
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How Can I Open My Airways Naturally
The most effective way to breathe easier is to use a neti pot to flush out the nasal passages. This is a common procedure in Ayurvedic medicine. There are many neti pots on the market, but I prefer the Netti Pot from Yogi Tea. It comes with complete instructions. All you have to do is use warm water and follow their suggested procedure. A neti pot clears the nasal passages and opens up the airways. The salts in the water are very effective at ridding you of allergies and killing any bacteria or viruses that may have taken up residence in the nasal passages. This is what you want to be sure you breathe in and out of your body. Try this once a day first thing in the morning. Youll feel better, I promise..
After An Asthma Attack
You should see a GP or asthma nurse within 48 hours of leaving hospital, or ideally on the same day if you did not need hospital treatment.
About 1 in 6 people treated in hospital for an asthma attack need hospital care again within 2 weeks, so it’s important to discuss how you can reduce your risk of future attacks.
Talk to a doctor or nurse about any changes that may need to be made to manage your condition safely.
For example, the dose of your treatment may need to be adjusted or you may need to be shown how to use your inhaler correctly.
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