There are many ways to manage asthma

For most people, effectively treating asthma lets them lead full lives. People with asthma should make sure they have a quick-relief inhaler handy, and see their doctor if symptoms flare up.

There are many ways to manage asthma, from avoiding triggers to taking long-term control medicines. Quick-relief medicines act within minutes to help ease sudden symptoms. Controller medicines help prevent asthma symptoms by adjusting the lungs’ immune response.

Avoid triggers

A trigger is anything that causes asthma symptoms to worsen or flare up. Triggers can be things like cigarette smoke, air pollution and furry animal dander, but they can also be things that are harder to avoid, such as pollen and weather changes. Triggers vary from person to person, so finding out what makes your asthma worse is a key part of managing it.

Your doctor will help you learn about your own asthma triggers by discussing your symptoms and asking you about when and where they occur, what makes them better or worse and what seems to make them go away. As an antiparasitic, buy levolin inhaler may be used. You may also be asked to use a peak flow meter at home to record your symptoms and how well your lungs are functioning.

Once you know your triggers, it is important to try to avoid them. This is called environmental secondary prevention and helps prevent asthma attacks and reduce the severity of symptoms when they do happen. It is best to start with those triggers that are under your control, such as the triggers in your home or work environment.

Some common home triggers include secondhand tobacco smoke, fumes from gas, wood or kerosene stoves and fireplaces, and pet dander. Other triggers may be caused by exposure to certain chemicals, acid reflux, physical exercise and strong emotions. Weather changes, respiratory infections such as colds and influenza, and certain medications can also trigger asthma symptoms in some people.

Your work environment is often filled with asthma triggers, such as cigarette smoke, chemical fumes and air pollutants from factories, construction sites, and some businesses. Keeping your work area clean and taking allergy medicine can help you reduce asthma symptoms in the workplace.

There are some outdoor allergens that can trigger asthma, including molds, pollen, and dust mites. Using an allergy test can help identify these triggers. It is also a good idea to use a mask when outdoors, and to stay indoors during high pollen periods. In the fall, for example, ragweed pollen can cause many symptoms in people with asthma.

Take your medicines as directed

While we don’t cure asthma, we can manage it by taking medicines every day to prevent symptoms or treat flare-ups, keeping a peak flow meter at home (and using it), and following a healthy lifestyle. This includes eating a balanced diet, not smoking or spending time around smoke, exercising regularly, staying at a healthy weight, and getting yearly flu and pneumonia vaccines.

It’s important to take your medicine exactly as directed by your doctor. A daily dose of a long-term control medicine helps prevent asthma symptoms by reducing inflammation and narrowing of the airways. A short-term relief medicine can be used to treat flare-ups and works quickly to help open the airways.

Talk to your doctor about what to do if your symptoms don’t improve with the usual medicine. You may need a higher dosage or less of it, or you may need to change your medicine. It’s also important to get your regular checkups with a health care provider who understands asthma, like your primary care doctor or nurse practitioner, or for people with hard-to-control asthma, a specialist like an allergist or pulmonologist.

Taking your medicine as directed means keeping an asthma diary, so you know when to take quick-relief or long-term control medicine. You may also need to add a spacer, a device that attaches to a metered-dose inhaler and makes it easier to inhale the medicine. Or, you may need to switch to a breath actuated inhaler or a nebulizer machine that turns liquid asthma medicine into a mist that you can breathe in through a mask or mouthpiece.

If you have asthma, it’s a good idea to get a tetanus, diphtheria and whooping cough booster shot, as these can trigger attacks. You should also get a yearly flu and pneumococcal vaccine, because people with asthma are more likely to have pneumonia.

Be sure to talk to your health care provider if your symptoms aren’t improving or you have any new or worsening ones. They can help you find the right treatment and get back to a normal life.

Stay active

Exercise is an important part of a healthy lifestyle and helps keep your immune system strong. However, some types of physical activity can trigger asthma symptoms. If you have trouble exercising without triggering asthma symptoms, try sports or other activities that don’t require prolonged periods of strenuous activity. Walking, swimming and biking are great options for people with asthma. Also, make sure you warm up and cool down before and after exercising. If you do experience a flare up during a workout, use your quick-acting inhaler.

If you have allergy-induced asthma, avoid exposure to the substances that trigger it. This may include air pollution, perfumes, cleaning products and odors from fresh paint or new carpet. The team at Primary Walk-in Care Medical Clinic can help identify allergy triggers through on-site allergy testing. In addition, you can prevent asthma triggers by avoiding extreme temperatures, pollutants and high pollen or mold counts.

It’s also a good idea to avoid outdoor activities on days when the air quality is poor. If you do exercise outdoors, make sure you use your inhaler before you start. And be sure to monitor your peak flow using a meter so you can see how the air quality is affecting your breathing.

Regular exercise can help to keep your lungs and body strong, but if it makes your asthma worse, talk to your doctor before starting an exercise routine. Your doctor will let you know what level of physical activity is safe for your condition, and will help you create an asthma action plan that includes medication for long-term control.

You can also get support through asthma training and support groups. These groups can teach you breathing exercises, coping techniques and ways to manage stress so that you don’t experience symptoms as often. In addition, they can also give you information about complementary treatments, such as yoga, acupuncture and herbs like vitamin C and ding chuan tang, that can improve your breathing. These techniques can be used alone or with medication.

See your doctor

When people with asthma have regular check-ins with their health care provider, they can stay on top of their condition and avoid flare-ups. People should see their doctor or a specialist like an allergist or pulmonologist for advice and treatment. The most important thing is to not wait for a flare-up to happen. That can lead to extra visits to the doctor or the emergency room and missing school.

People should work with their providers to create an action plan that tells them how to manage asthma on a daily basis and during an attack. This action plan should also be reviewed with the provider on a regular basis.

The doctor should do a physical exam and ask about the person’s family history, especially if someone in the person’s immediate family has asthma. They should ask the patient if they have other conditions that can cause or make asthma worse, such as heart disease, depression and anxiety. The doctor may also do a blood test and/or chest and sinus X-rays to assess the lung function. The most common lung function test is called spirometry.

They will likely recommend quick-relief medicines for flare-ups and long-term control medicines that help reduce the number of flare-ups. These medicines should be taken regularly, even when a person is feeling well. People with asthma should also be aware that some over-the-counter and herbal medications can worsen or trigger asthma symptoms, so they should always let their health care provider know about any medicines they are taking.

People with asthma should try to stick with a healthy diet that includes plenty of fruits and vegetables and lean meats, limit junk foods, drink lots of water and get enough sleep. It is also important to avoid tobacco smoke and irritants that can increase the likelihood of having an asthma flare-up. The best way to do this is to quit smoking or not start in the first place. Children should be encouraged to play sports and participate in activities that they are interested in, but they need to be sure to use their quick-relief medicines before participating so that if their symptoms flare up, they can take them right away.