If you have asthma, you probably know the importance of preventing the attack from disrupting your breath in the first place. Different people have different triggers that can lead them to the cycle of coughing, wheezing, and struggling to breathe. While there isn’t a permanent cure, the following tips will help prevent asthma attacks and keep your condition in control.
Identify What Triggers Your Asthma
Identify what triggers your condition and do everything you can to avoid them to prevent asthma attacks. Some of the common asthma triggers are cold, flu, exercise, changing weather, pollen, allergies, smoking, fragrances, sinusitis, and air pollution. A great way to identify the triggers is to keep track of your symptoms for a couple of months using a journal. Whenever you get an asthma attack, look up your diary to identify what caused it. You can also ask your specialist to get different tests to identify your asthma allergens. If your asthma is induced by exercising, stay clear of high-intensity workouts and use an inhaler before working out.
Stay Clear of Allergens
If allergies cause your asthma, you must avoid the triggers altogether. These triggers can increase the inflammation in your airways, making the attack more likely.
Don’t Smoke
Smoking is generally bad for your health and can worsen your asthma symptoms. Tobacco, incense, cigarettes, fireworks, and fire can worsen breathing.
Prevent Colds
I know sometimes it gets impossible to prevent catching a cold or flu but take the necessary steps to protect yourself whenever you can. Wash your hands whenever you come from outdoors, wear season-appropriate clothing, and stay far from people with a cold.
Make Your Space Allergy Proof
Whether you work from home or an office or even travel somewhere, you can take certain steps to make your environment allergy-proof and minimize your chances of getting an asthma attack. Change your pillows and bedsheets regularly to stay clear of dust mites, and close down the windows if you are allergic to pollen. Stay clear of spaces that have a lot of smoke or allow cigarette smoking.
Get Your Vaccinations Done Timely
Getting a flu shot timely will not only prevent you from getting the flu virus but prevent the chances of getting worsened asthma. If you are over 19, it is also important to get pneumonia shot every five to ten years to save yourself. A Tdap vaccine to gain protection against tetanus, diphtheria, and whooping cough. Timely vaccinations will not save you from asthma but also from plenty of other diseases.
Consider Immunotherapy Allergy Shots
Allergy shots can work well for some people and prevent asthma from worsening. With allergy shots, the doctor will inject a small dose of allergens under your skin. Over time, your body will get used to the allergens and stop reacting. It helps keep your asthma in check.
Take Prescribed Asthma Medications
Long-term prescribed medications can prevent asthma attacks and symptoms. These medications ease inflammation in your airways, keep asthma under check, and prevent a flare-up. It is essential to take them every single day. In certain cases, these medications can cause side effects. You can ask your doctor about the medications if that’s the case.
Follow the Asthma Action Plan
Always take your prescribed medications and keep an inhaler with you at all times. If you notice the symptoms despite taking medications, listen to your instructions. The plan will tell you what meds to take and when to reach out to the doctor.
Use a Home Peak Flow Meter
The meter showcases how well, or worse, the air is moving through the lungs. If you are getting an attack, your airways will get narrow. The meter will let you know what is happening to your body days/hours before you get symptoms. This will keep you on top of your medication plan and prevent the attack before it begins.
Compounding Pharmacy, Effective and Custom Solutions for Treating Asthma
If you or anyone in your family is struggling with asthma, you are not alone. The disease impacts more than 25 million people in the US alone. You’ll be surprised to know that seven million of them are children. Shortness of breath, tightness of chest, wheezing, and coughing are all symptoms that can be treated to avoid a full-blown asthma attack which requires emergency treatment. Please be aware that certain asthma attacks can be fatal.
The risks to your health are substantial if you don’t take your medications as directed. As per the Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology, nearly half of the patients don’t take their medications as prescribed. This might refer to the problems with medication administration.
Asthma Medications
Taking medications isn’t convenient for most patients. Some don’t like the size/shape of the tablets, others find it troublesome to swallow them, and some struggle to use inhalers. This calls for compounding medication. Compounding pharmacists understand the gravity of this situation and formulate medications other than the standard ingredients. They can create a custom solution, keeping in mind the sensitivities to the ingredients, and create customized dosages. The ideal delivery method makes patients stick to the medications, which makes the treatment much more effective. For instance, oral medications can be converted to easy-to-swallow capsules or water-dissolving formulas. The pharmacist can even change the taste of the tablets to a more pleasing one.
All asthma medications aren’t taken orally. Hence, an inhaler or a spacer is used to bring about the desired results. Your doctor and compounding pharmacist will custom-create a perfect plan for you to treat your condition. Make sure to adhere to the plan and stick to the medicines. If something is not working, reach out to your healthcare provider.
We hope you found this article informative and helpful! If you have any questions, leave them in the comments section below, and our team will get back to you.
- Disclaimer: This article is meant for informational and entertainment purposes only and is not to be used as a piece of medical diagnosis.