There is no joking when it comes to asthma and the damage it can cause upon its victims. It may not be something you can simply get rid of, but with a little work it becomes manageable. Learning ways to manage your asthma will keep your condition from becoming a potentially life-threatening issue. This article contains several tips and methods to help manage your asthma.
If you have an asthmatic child, do not allow anyone to smoke around him. There’s a long list of environmental asthma triggers, and secondhand smoke is at the top of it. You also need to be sure that your child isn’t around those that choose to smoke.
It is crucial for asthma sufferers not to smoke. Smoking is a bad habit for everyone, but patients that suffer from asthma are negatively affected by smoke as it cuts the oxygen supply off and induces an asthma attack.
If you’re having an asthma attack, a great way to handle this is to immediately evacuate the air from your lungs. Exhale quickly and forcefully. Really force that air out of your lungs! After that, take in three shallow breaths and one deep breath. Once your lungs are full again, do another forceful exhale. This will force you to pay careful attention to all of your breaths. It also will push all of your air out of the lungs so that you can get more air in. There may be periods of harsh coughing and a substantial generation of sputum, but this is actually what you want in order to get the airways opened and the breathing back on a regular pattern.
If you have asthma, you should keep away from any smoke from cigarettes. Never smoke yourself! Avoid vapors and chemical fumes from cigarettes. This can cause an asthma attack, and you may be unable to bring it under control. Leave a room if people smoke, or ask them to stop.
If you find yourself in a room that is dusty, don’t turn on any kind of fan. When you turn on the fans they will move the dust in the room around and this can trigger your asthma very easily. Instead, you should consider opening a window to get some fresh clean air going through your lungs.
Use the inhaler properly. Find a comfy spot, and follow the manufacturer’s instructions. You can inhale all you want, but it’s useless if the medication doesn’t make it to your lungs. You need to inhale air while spraying the requisite dosage in your mouth. Be sure to hold the mist in your lungs for about ten seconds.
If you have asthma, a dehumidifier is something you should consider purchasing for you home. Lowering humidity will reduce the amount of dust mites in your home, and help your asthma improve. Dehumidifiers cause the air in your home to become dry, which means less humidity.
Unscented products are best for asthma sufferers. Scented products, like air fresheners, incense and perfume, raise indoor pollution levels and can trigger asthma attacks. Fresh paint and new carpeting also produce smells that can cause irritation to the airways. Aim to make the air inside your home allergen free, and as fresh and clean as possible.
Let your asthma specialist know if treatments are not effective. The best thing you can do is put the advice you just read to use and make asthma a mere annoyance rather than something that controls your life.