Asthma can be a scary thing. Your airways tighten up and breathing becomes increasingly difficult. For someone without this disease, it is hard to understand the importance of being in control and having the proper treatments available to you. As you read on you will see some great ideas on how you can better manage your asthma.
Think about getting a flu shot. If you have asthma regularly, your lungs have more risks have getting infected. A flu shot should protect your lungs from common types of infections. If you have a child with asthma, you should definitely get them a flu shot to prevent them from developing any severe lung infections.
It is important that you know what triggers your asthma symptoms. It may be wise to keep an asthma diary so you can see a pattern of when and where your asthma attacks happen. By knowing what triggers attacks, you will know what to avoid or stay away from as much as possible.
If you get a bad cough that isn’t clearing up, ask your doctor if it could be related to your asthma. Asthma can trigger both coughs and bronchitis. The treatment for asthma trigger bronchitis is different from the treatment for a normal cough, and finding out if asthma is part of the issue will help you get relief for your cough quickly.
People that have asthma are often known to have allergies that can trigger your symptoms. Make sure you know what you are allergic to so that you can learn to stay away from the things that can hurt you. An allergist is the best one to give you a broad allergy test.
Quick relief or preventative treatment inhalers are medicines that need to be administered properly. Make sure you breath deeply into your lungs as you depress the inhaler. Hold the medication in your lungs for at least 3 to 5 seconds before you exhale allowing it to take better effect.
There is help for when you feel an asthma attack coming on and your inhaler is not with you. Caffeinated drinks can help you as they open your airways. Drink a couple of cups of coffee, tea, or hot chocolate before the full onset of your attack to minimize its negative effects.
If you use a preventative inhaler without a spacer, gargle with salt water and brush your teeth immediately after using it. The medication from a preventative inhaler will collect at the back of your throat, which is a moist environment, perfect for the growth of bacteria and fungi. If your inhaler were to become contaminated, you could contract thrush from using it. Gargling and brushing your teeth should help prevent this.
Managing your asthma should be something that makes you feel more in control and puts you at ease about living your day to day life. Having a great treatment plan in place and knowing what you can do makes all the difference. This article has given you a lot of information to try and if it will make you feel better talk to your doctor.