Your child’s pediatrician has diagnosed her with asthma. Now what? Your next stop will probably be at an allergist's office since there’s a strong connection between asthma and allergies. According to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, about 80 percent of children with asthma also suffer from allergies.
Your pediatrician will probably also recommend that you take your child to a pulmonologist, a doctor who specializes in the lungs. The pulmonologist will use a machine called a spirometer to measure how well your child’s lungs are working — how much air the lungs can hold and how quickly the air moves to the lungs when your child inhales. Your child will be asked to breath in deeply, hold her breath momentarily, and then blow out into the machine as hard as she can for a few times. It’s painless, and kid-friendly spirometers have smiley faces or birthday candles, which keep toddlers and preschoolers engaged and encourage them to work hard.Managing Your Child’s Asthma
Here’s what you can do at home to help your asthmatic child:
Identify and remove the triggers: Your little one’s allergy tests probably identified some of the triggers, but not all. So you’ll have to uncover a few yourself: Does your child have an attack when she’s stressed or when she’s been running around the playground at top speed? If the doctor suspects that dust or mold is the culprit, you may have to remove carpeting and stuffed animals from your tot’s room. You can also get hypoallergenic mattresses and pillows to minimize the effects of dust mites and pet dander. If cigarette smoke is what's behind your child’s flare-ups, now’s the time to quit (and make sure no one else smokes around your sweetie).
Get the right meds:Asthma is essentially treated with two types of medication: Quick relief or rescue meds, such as albuterol, are used to stop the symptoms and relax the muscles tightening around the airways; and long-term or controller drugs, such as Advair, are used on a daily basis to help prevent flare-ups. In an emergency (when albuterol or other type of fast-acting medicine doesn't provide relief within 15 to 20 minutes), corticosteroids (anti-inflammatory medication that keeps the airways from swelling) — in addition to albuterol — are administered for three to five days to get your child’s asthma under control.
Asthma medications come in many different forms. They can be taken orally in liquid form or pills, inhaled using a metered-dose inhaler (for example, albuterol), or given intravenously. Babies and toddlers often get their medication through a machine called a nebulizer. The device turns the liquid form of albuterol into a mist that is delivered to the lungs through a mouthpiece and mask.
Schedule frequent appointments: Each patient responds differently to asthma meds, so to minimize side effects and complications, make regular doctor visits a priority. Your little one will probably need to see the doctor or specialist every three or four months.
Teach your older child self-care: If your child is taking daily medication to control her asthma and is already in grade school, she may be given a peak-flow meter to use at home. It’s easy to handle and helps monitor how well the lungs are working. She’ll be shown the proper technique for blowing into it and how to record the daily results. Sometimes the peak-flow number decreases hours or days before an asthma attack. So the information can help you (and her) adjust her treatment to prevent an oncoming flare-up.
Some kids do outgrow asthma, many before they turn six. But most often these are the kids whose asthma was the result of an infection and who don’t have allergies or a family history of the disease. Other children’s symptoms diminish as they become tweens or teens, but their asthma may return when they become adults. Unfortunately, there are no tests to predict who will outgrow the condition and who won’t.
Even if your child has asthma all her life, taking the proper steps now will help her breathe easier. The support your little one gets from you, the doctor, and the right combination of medications will make an enormous difference in her well-being and guarantee that she’ll lead a rich and active life.