Asthma treatment, managing asthmatic effects and
reducing asthmatic attacks can not be done by your doctor alone. Ashtma
self help is an integral part of asthma treatment, because you have to
take self responsibility in order to treat and manage your personal
condition so that asthma will not take over your entire life. Your doctor
can assist and guide you through this process. He can give
recommendations, he may prescribe daily medication and he can prescribe
emmergency medication so you are well equipped in case of acute asthmatic
attacks and feel more comfortable within asthmatic times and episodes. But
the task of minimizing the risk of an asthma attack and to take care for
yourself on a daily basis, is mainly up to you and your family.
Learning some fundamental asthma self help tricks
can help you not only to keep your asthma under control but also to reduce
asthmatic attacks in order to make your and your familyīs daily life more
comfortable and less stressy.
To deal and handle asthma requires a little
knowledge about main asthma triggers and how to reduce their occurence.
Asthma can be caused, triggered or worsened by many things. This is bad.
On the other hand, if you have knowledge about these things, you know what
you are fighting against. And as there are so many asthma triggers around,
the good news is, that there are also a lot of things you can do in order
to successfully eleminate or at least reduce these triggers. You only need
to know the what, the why and the how.
One important factor and aid in regards to lessen
the severity and frequency of asthma symptoms is simply but effectively
your doctor. He or she will offer important suggestions and
recommendations in addition to medication subscription that will help you
to deal and manage with your asthma. Think of these suggestions and
recommendations. Then take the 10 steps for asthma self help which I will
give you within this and my other asthma related articles, in order to
complete this information and create your own personalized asthma self
help plan.
A major part of this astma self help plan will be to
reduce, eleminate or simply avoid asthma triggers. I have summerized and
listed some of the ways that can help yourself or anybody else in your
family suffering due to asthmatic attacks as follows:
1. The first and most important steps to help
yourself to reduce asthma impact is to follow your doctorīs orders. This
sounds too simple, but really many people do forget or neglect their
doctorīs recommendations within the haste of daily life. I know this
myself. A stressy day or a day where we feel very well and do not have any
asthmatic symptoms and we forget taking the medicine or whatsoever. Be
constant! Do not stop taking your daily medication just because you feel
better. Follow medical instructions carefully and if your doctor did
subscribe daily peak flow measurements make sure to measure daily in order
to monitor your condition.
2. If you smoke, quit. Cigarette smoke is one of the
major asthma triggers. I know, you may have heard that too often again and
again, but it is the plain and simple truth. No matter if you are
suffering by asthma yourself, or your child or anybody else in your
family, Cigarette smoke is one of the most common asthma triggers known.
If you find it hard to quit smoking, try to use assistance from your
doctor or use effective stop smoking aids such as nicocure
pads
or the like!
3. Keep your home free of dust. Dust is also a
common asthma trigger. You can never fully avoid dust in your house,
however there are simple ways to reduce the amount and dispersion of dust
particles very effectively. When whiping off dust, always use a moistured
or damp cloth, never a dry one! Also it is recommendable to use a cylinder
vacuum cleaner instead of an upright one. Preferably one that encloses the
vacuum cleaner bag inside a solid container to minimize pumping dust back
into the air.
There are also vaccum cleaners available that have
an integrated water filter included. These are very successfully filtering
dust particles out of the air before releasing the air back into the
environment. They are a little more expensive however, but have proven to
be very helpful in regards to reducing asthmatic attacks. Take a look at
the large vacuum cleaner compartment at Amazon.com for instance, in order
to find a suitable cylinder or water filter supported vacuum cleaner for
your needs. I tend to recommend Amazon, because they have lotīs of
special offers and reduced prices on high quality vacuum cleaner models
available all the time.
4. Remove carpets and heavy draperies wherever
possible. They are dust catchers and easily breed dust mites. Dust mites
are one of the most common causes for asthma and allergies. If you cannot
remove them make at least sure that you vacuum them by use of an adeqauate
vaccum cleaner as mentioned above.
5. Avoid the use of down feather pillows and other
comforters. Use a plastic or latex cover on your mattress. Dust mites love
living in mattresses and pillows, stuffed animals and other soft
decorations. Dust mites themselves are not dangerous. The tiny insects
live from fallen off skin. But their secrets and remainings are highly
tentative to cause asthma and allergies. There are also special
anti-allergic latex matresses available that make it very uncomfortable
for dust mites to breat and live in. They may be more expensive, but can
help making your sleeping room more hygienic.
6. In times of cold wheather do cover your mouth and
nose with a scarf. Cold, dry air is one of the most common asthma
triggers.
7. In case your asthma is caused by allergic
reaction against pollen or other allergens, monitor the outside air
quality on a daily basis. Your local newspaper or radio station may
provide you with daily update on air condition and the actual situation of
pollen distribution. During peak pollen season avoid woodsy areas and open
fields and take extra care when the air quality arrives at a danger level.
8. Another astma trigger you should be aware of is
mold, particularly mold spores. Mold is naturally spread all over warm and
humid places, such as your bathroom. Too keep mold growth down as far as
possible is an important part of your asthma self care programme. Wet
laundry should always be dried immediately and your bathroom should be
washed and disinfected regularly. Open the windows for immediate
ventilation of the room after having a bath or shower. If necessary,
remove plants within the house or critical rooms, as mold can easily grow
in their soil as well.
9. Pet dander can also pull asthma symptoms. If you
cannot part with your pet due to emotional ties it is at least highly
recommendable to keep it out of the bedroom as being the most critical
area. Also you should make sure pet dander is regularly removed. Both
measures already reduce the exposure to asthma trigging pet dander
tremendeously.
10. The last point Iīd like to raise is food. Not
food in general but food that causes allergic reactions to yourself or the
person suffering from asthma attacks. Any food, drinks or medication that
has proved to cause allergic reactions to the person in question is to be
avoided. Period.
Thatīs all for today. You can find even more
information about most common asthma triggers within my asthma related
article "How to Reduce Asthmatic Attacks. What are the Most Common
Asthma Triggers?" which identifies major causes for asthma attacks
and gives useful recommendation on how to avoid them.
