Everyday Treatment For Asthma In Children
The main aims of day-to-day asthma treatment are to:
- keep symptoms under control
- keep lungs as healthy as possible
- stop asthma from interfering with school or play
- help your child enjoy a full and active life.
Your doctor will help you to develop a plan to manage your childs asthma which will include an asthma action plan , and will prescribe the correct medication to help you do so.
Treatment For Asthma Emergencies In Children
An asthma attack can quickly become an asthma emergency, but if you take quick action, you can reduce the risk of this happening. So, if the symptoms of an asthma attack appear, follow your childs asthma action plan.
If your child is experiencing a severe or life-threatening asthma attack, call triple zero for an ambulance and then start asthma first aid.:
- Sit the child upright.
- Give 4 puffs of reliever medication , taking 4 breaths for each puff. Use a spacer and mask if one is available.
- Wait 4 minutes if the child still cannot breathe normally, give 4 more puffs.
- Continue to give 4 separate puffs of reliever medication, taking 4 breaths for each puff, every 4 minutes until the ambulance arrives.
Sleep On Your Back With Your Head Elevated And A Pillow Under Your Bent Knees
Another option for back sleepers who have asthma is to sleep on your back with your head slightly elevated and a pillow under your knees. This position can improve circulation while also keeping your body stable throughout the night, which can help you breathe easier and sleep better.
The key to finding the right sleep position for you is to experiment with what are considered the best sleeping positions for asthma patients and make notes. Pick a position, stick with it for a week or so, and record your observations about your asthma symptoms and sleep quality. Then try another position and do the same.
Using the same sleep position for multiple nights is helpful, as it allows your body to get comfortable with that position so that the newness of it isnt a factor in your sleep quality.
A note about right-side sleeping: Research has determined that sleeping on your right side increases resistance in the airways within the lungs. A possible cause of this difference between left-side and right-side sleep positions is that sleeping on your right side may increase whats called vagal tone, which activates the nervous system in a way that causes airway constriction. Not everyone experiences this effect, but you should keep it in mind as you experiment with sleep positions.
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When Should I Go To The Er
Don’t be embarrassed to get medical help if you think you need it. These situations call for emergency care:
- You take your asthma medicine and your flare-up doesn’t get any better.
- You feel a little better after taking your medicine, but your symptoms come back quickly.
- You have frequent wheezing, a lasting cough, or chest pain.
- Your lips and fingernails are bluish or grayish.
- You have trouble breathing, talking, or walking.
Diagnosis Of Asthma In Children
Diagnosing asthma in children younger than 5 years can be difficult because children cough or wheeze for many different reasons. Take your child to the doctor if:
- the wheezing happens more than once with or without an illness
- constant coughing or bouts of coughing become worse at night
- you are concerned about any breathing problems in your child.
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How Can I Prevent And Treat Asthma Symptoms
There is no cure for asthma, but it can be managed. There are two steps to controlling asthma: taking medicines and avoiding or limiting asthma triggers.
To prevent asthma symptoms:
- Avoid or limit contact with your asthma triggers andallergens. Use AAFAs Healthier Home Checklist to identify asthma triggers and allergens in your home and make your indoor environment healthier.
- Get vaccinated. Respiratory infections like colds and the flu can worsen asthma. Get a flu vaccine every year. Keep your lungs healthy by getting other vaccinations as recommended.
- Create an Asthma Action Plan with your doctor. Follow it when you have symptoms. If you are having trouble staying in the Green/Go Zone, your asthma may not be well-controlled. Talk with your doctor about your treatment plan.
- Take your asthma medicines as directed. If your doctor prescribed a medicine to control your asthma, take it as directed. This may be as needed or every day. Follow your Asthma Action Plan.
- Take care of your general health. It can be hard to take care of your health but doing so can help you better manage asthma. Try to get plenty of sleep and exercise. Eat healthy foods as much as possible, stay hydrated, and find ways to manage stress.
To treat sudden asthma symptoms:
Asthma Medicines: Control and Quick-Relief or a Combination
What Will Happen To Asthma Post
Were used to tolerating a certain level of many infectious diseases in the community, particularly things like common colds, strep throat, even glandular fever and the flu.
For many of us, this is no big deal and the only effects are feeling not great for a few days or weeks of the year.
But for many others, these sorts of common infectious illnesses can be deadly. Think about someone with cystic fibrosis, which severely damages the lungs and digestive system. If they get a cold or the flu, it can seriously knock them around, or even kill them. Same with someone who takes medications to depress their immune system, for example people with rheumatoid arthritis.
These infections result in many hospitalisations, which puts pressure on the whole hospital system.
From COVID, we know there are simple measures we can take to substantially reduce the transmission of these seemingly benign diseases, including wearing masks, not going to work or socialising when youre sick, and washing/sanitising your hands regularly.
Weve reached the milestone of having more than 80% of Australians over 16 fully vaccinated against COVID, and international travel is resuming. Returning travellers are likely to bring with them new flu strains that were totally unprepared for.
Usually flu vaccines for Australia are designed to tackle strains from the Northern Hemisphere winter so were prepared for when the new strain arrives in our winter.
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Use A Peak Flow Meter
You can learn the patterns of your asthma by using a peak flow meter, which tells you how fast you can blow air out. When your airways are fully open you will get a high reading, and when your airways start to get narrow the reading becomes lower.
You can use these readings along with your symptoms to decide when to change your treatment by following your Asthma Action Plan.
When Should I Be Concerned About Asthma
Asthma is a chronic lung disease that inflames the lining of the bronchial tubes, making them narrower. When a person wheezes, coughs or is short of breath, it is called asthma. You can be afflicted with asthma for life. There is no cure for asthma, but it can be managed. Asthma is most common among children, with an estimated 10 million children in the United States having asthma as well as many adults. Children who have asthma live a life-long struggle with airway obstruction. Since asthma is a chronic disease, it can flare up, or it can be mild. Asthma develops when a person has inflamed airways. When asthma is mild, patients may not know they have it. Asthma becomes more noticeable when they have an asthma attack. When they start coughing and wheezing, they know they have an attack..
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Side Effects Of Asthma Medication
If you are worried about possible side effects from asthma medication, speak to your doctor. Do not stop or reduce doses of medication for your child without speaking with your doctor. Common side effects from inhaled asthma medication:
Preventers
- sore mouth and throat
- fungal throat infections.
Using a spacer reduces the risk of these side effects. as does rinsing the mouth with water after using an inhaler.
Relievers
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How Is Asthma Treated
Asthma can be controlled, but there’s no asthma cure. There are, however, certain goals in asthma treatment. If you are unable to achieve all of these goals, it means your asthma is not under control. You should contact your asthma care provider for help with asthma.
Treatment goals include the following:
- Live an active, normal life
- Prevent chronic and troublesome symptoms
- Attend work or school every day
- Perform daily activities without difficulty
- Stop urgent visits to the doctor, emergency room, or hospital
- Use and adjust medications to control asthma with little or no side effects
Properly using asthma medication, as prescribed by your doctor, is the basis of good asthma control, in addition to avoiding triggers and monitoring daily asthma symptoms. There are two main types of asthma medications:
Asthma medications can be taken by inhaling the medications or by swallowing oral medications . If you are also taking drugs for other conditions, you should work with your providers to check drug interactions and simplify medications when possible.
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Why Strong Asthma Attacks Occur Early In The Morning
It is known that there are changes at night in the functioning of organs and systems that could contribute to the appearance of bronchospasms.
First of all, this phenomenon is due to the reduced production of hormones and also the type of nervous system of the individual. Typically, these changes can reach their maximum at 4 am to 6 am. There is such regularity: the worse a person feels during the day, the more pronounced will be the seizures of bronchial asthma in the early morning hours.
If preventative measures are ineffective and suffering from suffocation continues, keep calm, sit or get upright and use your inhaler. It is essential that at this point not to panic, do not take indiscriminately different medications, observe dosages and correct inhalation techniques, or otherwise, you will not achieve the desired result.
For patients suffering from frequent shortness of breath, it is advisable to leave a thermos with a hot drink at their bedside to drink some warm tea or water. If asthma attacks occur in the early morning hours and are repeated regularly, you should consult your doctor. Consider also that allergens may cause bronchial asthma attacks at night. In the presence of such allergens, seizures can occur late at night between 1 am, and 3 am.
Pooh and feathers contain alarge number of mites a major allergen in house dust. These ticks are not visible to the naked eye, but they are at places where dust is accumulated.
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What Is Severe Asthma
Severe asthma is often harder to control than mild to moderate asthma. It may require higher dosages and more frequent use of asthma medications. If youre not managing it properly, severe asthma can be dangerous and even life threatening in some cases.
Its important that youre able to recognize when your condition isnt properly managed. Doing so can help you take steps to find a more effective method of treatment.
Here are eight signs that your severe asthma is getting worse and what to do next.
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How Do I Handle An Asthma Flare
If you feel like a flare-up is about to happen, stay calm. Let people around you know what’s going on. Then remember your asthma action plan. That’s the written plan that tells you what to do next.
Stay calm and focus on what your asthma action plan says. Your doctor probably told you to use your quick-relief medicine, so do that first.
If you can figure out what triggered your symptoms , remove the trigger or yourself from the area. Sometimes that’s all you need to get your asthma under control again.
If a flare-up is more severe, you might need to get help.
Personal Asthma Action Plan
As part of your initial assessment, you should be encouraged to draw up a personal asthma action plan with your GP or asthma nurse.
If you’ve been admitted to hospital because of an asthma attack, you should be offered an action plan before you go home.
The action plan should include information about your asthma medicines, and will help you recognise when your symptoms are getting worse and what steps to take. You should also be given information about what to do if you have an asthma attack.
Your personal asthma action plan should be reviewed with your GP or asthma nurse at least once a year, or more frequently if your symptoms are severe.
As part of your asthma plan, you may be given a peak flow meter. This will give you another way of monitoring your asthma, rather than relying only on symptoms, so you can recognise deterioration earlier and take appropriate steps.
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Additional Treatment For Asthma And What To Expect
If your asthma has been getting worse, you may need to speak with a doctor and consider additional treatment options to help get your symptoms under control. Luckily, most individuals experience relief from their more severe symptoms after a few days of receiving proper treatment.
Treatments for asthma when your symptoms progressively get worse include:
- Bronchodilators: This medication helps relax the muscles surrounding the airway, allowing for increased airflow.
- Anti-inflammatory medicines: These medications aid in reducing inflammation and expelling mucus from the airways, which can make breathing much easier when experiencing a flare-up.
- Breathing treatments/inhalers: If your symptoms persist, you may have to start undergoing breathing treatments. Additionally, if you do not already use an inhaler, your doctor may recommend adopting one into your daily routines to help manage symptoms.
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Signs Of Worsening Asthma
It is important to understand the potential signs of asthma. Symptoms should be constantly monitored and measured at home using a peak flow monitor or a spirometer. The signs of asthma exacerbation are as follows:2
- An increase in shortness of breath
- Tightening of the chest
- A decrease in stamina, even while performing light physical activity
- Coughing or wheezing which alters the sleep patterns
- Breathing discomfort for which you need to use an inhaler more than twice a week
- Interference with a daily routine
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Ask Yourself 3 Simple Questions
If you answered yes to any of these questions, you may have Work-Related Asthma.
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Cheyannes Story Mums First Time Experience With Life
Cheyanne tells her story of the near-death experience by asthma of her daughter Ngamihi.
Cheyanne McConnell from Hamilton has two beautiful daughters. Her oldest is Ngamihi Lyndon, who has asthma, and Anahera Lyndon is the younger of the two. Cheyanne is deaf, therefore uses sign language, and Ngamihi helps her as a sign language interpreter. Cheyanne describes Ngamihi as really lovely and very amazing for doing this. She says both her daughters are really sweet girls.
Unfortunately, in early 2015, Cheyanne and her family had a frightening experience with asthma. Ngamihi was in a serious condition and needed to be taken to the hospital. Cheyanne explains, It was very hard for my daughter Ngamihi, she nearly died. I took her straight to the hospital. Im very lucky. I feel shocked that Ngamihi had asthma.
The whole experience was incredibly emotional and traumatising. Ngamihi in hospital made us all cry, she nearly died. She had fallen down, she was wheezing and upset crying. She had a hard cough and dry throat,” says Cheyanne. This was Cheyannes first time in dealing with asthma, as she had never experienced it before and didnt know anything about the condition. To learn more about asthma, Cheyanne got in contact with Asthma Waikato to book an appointment for one-on-one asthma education. Cheyanne says, “I need to learn more about asthma for my daughter Ngamihi. It’s very important”.
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What Is An Asthma Attack
According to the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, asthma attacks occur when an inflammation or obstruction of the bronchial tubes exists. Since these tubes allow air to enter and leave the lungs, asthma happens when air movement in and out of the lungs is restricted.
Asthma attacks are most commonly recognized by severe wheezing, consistent coughing and rapid breathing. However, people experiencing asthma attacks may also notice tightness in their chest and neck. If not enough oxygen reaches their lungs, then they may turn pale and their lips and fingernails could turn blue.
Asthma symptoms vary from person to person, but you can control them with a proper prevention routine. If your asthma is under control, then the likelihood of you experiencing an asthma attack decreases, Carrillo said.
Too Little Sleep Can Mean More Asthma Attacks In Adults
May 11, 2020
First study examining adults with asthma shows negative impacts of sleep deprivation.
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. A good nights sleep is crucial to good health. A new article in Annals of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, the scientific journal of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology reveals that too little sleep, and occasionally too much sleep, can negatively impact adults with asthma.
Previous research revealed that poor sleep quality has a negative effect on asthma symptoms in adolescents, says Faith Luyster, PhD, lead author of the study. Our study shows that adults with asthma are equally affected by too little sleep. Compared to normal sleepers, short and long sleepers had a higher proportion of people who reported having an asthma attack in the past year and had more days with impaired health-related quality of life. Impaired quality of life was characterized by more days of poor physical and mental health.
The study surveyed 1,389 adults who were 20 years and older who self-identified as having asthma. Of the group, 25.9 percent slept 5 hours or less, 65.9 percent slept 6-8 hours and 8.2 percent slept 9 or more hours. Sleep duration was measured by a single question, How much sleep do you usually get at night on weekdays or workdays? Short sleepers were more likely to be younger and non-White, while long sleepers were more likely to be older, female and a smoker.
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