Asthma Treatment & How to Use Inhaler — Living with asthma can be pretty challenging because patients need to take preventive steps to avoid the attack. They must also be prepared with quick-relief medications when asthma symptoms are unavoidable. If you are in Bali and cannot control your asthma symptoms, BIMC Hospital Kuta will always be there to help you get the best treatment for your condition.
Treatments for Asthma
Asthma Treatment comes with different options, but they mostly will focus on prevention and long-term control to stop the attacks before they start. Patients will learn to recognize asthma triggers, take essential steps to avoid the triggers, and track their breathing to make sure that medication can work to keep symptoms under control.
Medications might be crucial for treating asthma, but they will be prescribed depending on several factors, including age, triggers, symptoms, and what works best to control asthma. Patients might need to take long-term asthma medication to prevent asthma attacks by reducing the inflammation or swelling in their airways that will lead to asthma symptoms. This kind of medication should be consumed daily.
Besides long-term medication, patients might also need to take quick-relief asthma medication that can deliver quick and short-term symptom relief when they have asthma attacks. Some doctors might recommend patients take this kind of medication before exercise, as well. This medication will be a great help to relieve the symptoms right away, but it should not be taken too often to make sure that long-term medication works properly.
The next medication that might be prescribed to asthma patients is allergy medication. Some patients might have asthma that can be triggered or worsened by allergies and allergy medication can be a great help to deal with this condition.
Some severe asthma conditions might not have a good response to inhaled corticosteroids with other types of asthma medication. In this circumstance, patients might need to take bronchial thermoplasty.
For better asthma control, the treatment must be suited to the severity of the asthma condition. Patients can also work with their doctor to create an asthma action plan.
Patients can also adjust their lifestyles to control their asthma better. It means that they need to avoid triggers by using air conditioners, decontaminating home decorations, maintaining optimal humidity, preventing mold spores, reducing pet dander, cleaning regularly, and covering their noses and mouths if they are cold out.
They also need to stay healthy by taking regular exercise, maintaining a healthy weight, and controlling GERD. Alternative medications can also be considered, such as practicing breathing exercises, as well as, using herbal and natural remedies for asthma.
How to Use Inhaler
You can find different types of inhalers that work to help people control their asthma. There is a control inhaler for everyday use to prevent asthma attacks and a rescue inhaler for quick relief. Different types of inhalers might have different methods to use.
For using a metered dose inhaler (MDI), you need to prime it first, especially if you use it for the first time or have not used it for more than two weeks. Next, you need to shake it and turn it away from you before spraying it by pressing it down. You need to wait for a few seconds before doing it again. You need to spray four times in total.
You can also find a metered dose inhaler without a spacer. How to use inhaler of this type will be a little bit different. First things first, you need to take off the mouthpiece before shaking it for five seconds. When holding the inhaler up, you need to use your index finger on top while your thumb is supporting the inhaler from underneath. If you need to hold the spacer, you can use another hand. Now, you need to breathe out and put the mouthpiece between your teeth while your lips must close around it closely. After pressing the top down, you need to breathe in for about 4-6 seconds until your lungs fill. You need to hold the medication as long as you can in your lungs before breathing out.
Different methods should be followed if you use the metered dose inhaler with a spacer or a dry powder inhaler. Besides mastering how to use each type of inhaler, you must also understand how to clean it to make sure that it is not blocked by medication buildup.
Sources:
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/asthma/diagnosis-treatment/drc-20369660
