Treating Your Child’s Asthma
by jmmillerPrevention of asthma is very important, as it is an incurable condition. Cases of asthma can range from mild to severe. Careful management of the disease can mean leading a normal life. In some cases, children can remain symptom free simply by avoiding the triggers that affect them. In other cases, avoidance is just not enough, and daily preventative medication becomes necessary.
So, the first step is to minimize triggers. The second step is to monitor the function of your child’s lungs. This can be achieved using a “peak flow meter”, available from your physician. This device can alert you to when an attack is imminent, by indicating when lung function has decreased fairly significantly. The third step in managing asthma involves the usage of medications.
Typical asthma treatments are:
- anti-inflammatories, which reduce swelling in the airway and lungs; and
- bronchodilators, which increase the airflow through the breathing passages by relax the muscles around the airway.
Depending on the type and severity of your child’s symptoms, one type of medication, or a combination of the two may be prescribed by your doctor. In cases of severe allergies causing asthma, your child may need allergy shots (immunotherapy) to keep the disease under control.
Asthma is a very individual disease. What works for one child may not work at all for yours. Treatment of the disease needs to be carefully tailored by your doctor for your child’s specific needs. Asthma need not affect your child’s daily life. There is absolutely no reason why asthma should hinder any of the activities that your child enjoys. By working closely with your child’s physician, you can effectively manage and control asthma.
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