Asthma:
A Guide for Teens
If you are reading this, you
might be someone who has asthma. The more you know about asthma, the better you
can care for yourself. This guide was created to answer your questions about
asthma and help you manage your symptoms.
What
is asthma?
Asthma is a chronic condition
of the lungs that affects how you feel and breathe. It’s not contagious-you can’t get asthma from someone else
(like a cold), and you can’t pass it on to anyone else. You can
have symptoms that occur every day, weekly, every few months or hardly at all.
Some children seem to outgrow it but most teens with asthma will continue to
have symptoms as an adult. Most importantly with the proper treatment,
people with asthma can have normal and active lives.
What
exactly happens when I have asthma symptoms?
When you have asthma, the
airways in your lungs are swollen and inflamed. The airways are the tubes that
carry air in and out of your lungs. When you are exposed to something that
irritates the airways, they start to narrow, getting smaller with less air able
to move in and out. Muscles in and around the swollen airways get tight and
more mucous is made. This causes you to have trouble breathing, with chest
tightness, coughing, and sometimes “wheezing”,
or a whistling sound when you breathe.
Asthma:
Common Symptoms
Remember
·
Asthma affects how you feel and breathe.
·
Asthma runs in families.
·
There is no cure for asthma, but it can be controlled.
What are of the most common symptoms
of asthma?
·
Coughing, especially during the night, early morning, when
outside in the cold air or while exercising
·
Wheezing that can be heard when you breathe
·
Shortness of breath or trouble breathing
·
Chest tightness or pain which may feel like someone is sitting
on your chest or squeezing it
If you have any of these symptoms, talk to
your health care provider!
Asthma symptoms can range from mild to severe -
from being a little annoying to seriously affecting how you are feeling. When
symptoms are severe, asthma can be life threatening.
Asthma:
Exercise Induced Asthma
What is exercise-induced asthma
(EIA)?
Some people only have asthma symptoms when they
exercise or play sports. People with EIA have airways that are overly sensitive
to sudden changes in temperature and humidity, especially when breathing
colder, drier air during aerobic exercise. There are some things you
can do to help control exercise-induced asthma.
·
Take a quick-acting prescription inhaler 15 minutes before you
exercise (to open up your airway)
·
Do warm up exercises for about 10-minutes before heavy physical
activity
·
Begin exercising slowly and work up to a faster pace-This has
been found to prevent asthma symptoms during exercise
·
If you have symptoms and need your Albuterol more than twice a
week, you probably need a medication you can take daily to control your
symptoms. This daily controller medication may come as another type of inhaler,
or as a pill. SEE YOUR DOCTOR OR NURSE PRACTITIONER IF YOU NEED YOUR DAILY
RESCUE MEDICATION (ALBUTEROL) MORE THAN TWICE A WEEK.
If you are having trouble with your asthma while
you are exercising, try the following:
·
IMMEDIATELY STOP any activity you are doing and stay calm.
Sometimes just taking a break helps
·
Get out of the cold temperature and away from dust and dirt
particles such as dust from a dry soccer field
·
Take your quick-relief/Albuterol inhaler (you should always
carry one with you if you have asthma!)
·
Slow and calm your breathing –
breathing fast can make your asthma worse
·
Get medical attention if you are not better
Asthma:
Causes and Triggers
What
causes asthma?
No one knows for sure what
causes asthma, but doctors have found that certain things in the environment
can irritate a person’s breathing and cause symptoms.
Asthma runs in families, and teens who are overweight are more likely to have
asthma. Most teens who are diagnosed with asthma have allergies that can aggravate
their breathing.
What
are triggers?
Triggers are things in the
environment that bring on asthma symptoms or “asthma flare-ups” (sometimes called asthma attacks). Some
triggers such as pollen will only affect people with asthma during
certain seasons and not throughout the year. Others may have symptoms only when
they are around a cat, for example.
The following categories and
list of “triggers” can cause asthma symptoms for some people.
Allergens:
things that you are sensitive to that cause a type of allergic reaction
·
Dust mites
·
Animal dander – (which is
from skin, fur or feathers of animals)
·
Cockroach and rodent droppings
·
Pollen from trees, grasses, weeds, and flowers
·
Mold and mildew
Irritants:
(smells and other things that you might inhale (breathe in) through your nose,
mouth and into your lungs)
·
Cigarette smoke – both smoke
from your own cigarette or someone else’s
·
Strong smells - perfumes, make up, cleaning products, scented
candles, fresh paint, room deodorizers, gasoline
·
Chalk dust, wood smoke
·
Air pollutants-smog, diesel fuel and factory emissions
Weather
·
Cold air
·
Hot temperatures, humidity or “sticky weather”
Exercise
·
Sports and other physical activities (such as running) that
cause sudden and rapid breathing
Viral
infections
·
Colds and flu or other infections of the nose, throat, lungs,
etc. that can cause coughing, sore throat, and/or trouble breathing
·
Asthma:
Getting Diagnosed
·
·
If I think I have asthma what should I do?
·
If you haven’t been to your health care provider yet and you think you might
have asthma, call and make an appointment as soon as possible. Getting
diagnosed and treated quickly will make a big difference in the way you feel.
·
·
How is asthma diagnosed?
·
Only your health care provider can tell if you
have asthma. He/she will ask you questions about how you are feeling in general
and also specific questions about your breathing. You will be asked about your
past health and your family’s health
and about any medications you take and if you have any allergies. Your
health care provider will likely give you a physical exam and check your nose,
listen to your lungs and heart, etc. to make sure you don’t have any other problems. You might be
asked to breathe into a tube (called a “peak flow meter”) that measures how much air your lungs
can hold. If you are diagnosed with asthma you may be referred to a specialist.
Asthma:
Treatment
How
is asthma treated?
Asthma is treated by: keeping
track of how well your lungs are working (your health care provider will listen
to your lungs), taking medications as directed, avoiding things that make it
worse (triggers), controlling things in your environment, and learning how to
manage it. Although there is currently no cure for asthma, it can be controlled
extremely well.
An important part of asthma care is what you do to help
manage it. Controlled asthma means you have very few or no symptoms and are
able to do what you want to do.
Tips to control your
asthma symptoms:
·
See your health care provider regularly and talk about any
concerns you might have
·
Take medications as prescribed by your health care provider
·
Use a spacer with all inhalant medication
·
Use a “peak flow meter” if you have one
·
Keep a “symptom diary” that describes time,
date, severity (how bad you feel) and exposure activity (what were you doing
when the symptoms got worse)
·
Know your asthma “triggers”
and try to avoid or eliminate them
·
Pay attention to your asthma so you know when it is getting
worse and when to get help
·
Rest if your asthma is bothering you
·
Don’t smoke- or quit if you do
·
Learn as much as you can about asthma because the more you know,
the better you can help care for yourself and feel good most of the time
You may have times when you don’t take care of your
asthma as you usually do, such as forgetting to take your medicine or not
remembering what triggers your asthma. Sometimes no matter what you do, your
asthma may bother you when you least expect it to and you’ll need to take a fast-acting, quick-relief asthma
medicine called Albuterol (that open up your airways so you can breathe
easier). If your Albuterol doesn’t make you feel better within 20 minutes, you should call your health
care provider.
What
kinds of medicines are used to treat asthma?
Some people need to take one or
more types of medication daily for their asthma and others may not need to take
any except when their asthma is bothersome. Your health care provider will
decide what medications you need to take.
The two main components of
asthma are
brocho-constriction –
tightening of the muscles around your airways, and inflammation or swelling inside your
airways.
·
Albuterol – also known as your “rescue” or
“quick reliever” medicine will relax the muscles around your airways. There are
3 brands of Albuterol – ProAir®,
Proventil®, and Ventolin®. They all have the same ingredients and work the same way.
·
Controller medications are medicines that you need to take every
day to decrease the swelling in your airways. Controller medications can be
inhalers such as Flovent®,
Pulmicort®, Asmanex®, QVAR®,
Advair®, or Symbicort® or
perhaps a pill such as Singulair. Your health care provider will teach you how
and when to use your medicine.
Asthma:
When to Get Help
It can be very scary if you have trouble breathing.
Having a plan in mind and knowing when to go to the emergency room will help
ease your worries.
What are the signs that I need to get
help right away?
·
You are feeling like you need to use your fast acting
(Albuterol) inhaler more
than once every 4 hours
·
Your fast acting inhaler (Albuterol) is not working
·
You are having trouble
talking or walking because you are out of breath
·
You are not able to breathe -
Call an ambulance and go to the closest emergency room
What should I do in an emergency?
If you have been using your asthma
medications and they aren’t working and you can’t breathe – call an ambulance right away!
If you don’t
feel it’s an “emergency”,
contact your health care provider.
Remember – many teens have reported feeling like they should have taken
an ambulance instead of having a friend or family member take them to the
hospital by car, as their breathing got worse during the drive. Whoever is
taking you to the hospital will not know what to do if you suddenly can’t breathe – and it CAN happen.
Asthma:
Living with Asthma
Will I always have asthma?
Studies have shown that asthma usually does not go
away, and that the swelling in your lungs actually stays there even when your
asthma is not bothering you. This is important to know because you need to pay
attention to how you feel and if your breathing changes.
It’s
true that some people only have asthma as a child and never seem to have
symptoms again. Others can have symptoms their whole lives. Finally, there are
other people who have no symptoms for years and then have it bother them again,
many years later. It is important to remember that asthma is a chronic
condition, unlike a common cold which is temporary. As a teen with asthma, you
will probably have it as you grow into adulthood.
Remember, Asthma is very treatable and you should be able to live a normal,
healthy life. In fact, some teens forget
to mention they have asthma (or a history of asthma) to a new health care
provider or their school nurse. It is very important to remember to tell your
health care provider or someone else involved in your health about your asthma
and what medications you are taking even if you have not had any symptoms for a
long time. Learn the name and dosage strength of your asthma medications as
many medications come in different strengths- it’s not enough to just identify asthma
medications by the color of the inhaler!
And, ALWAYS use a spacer device when using your inhaler - it guarantees the
right amount of medicine getting into your lungs instead of all over your mouth
and throat.
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