Asthmatics Need A Good Plan Of Action
Self-care is important to having planned maximum relief from asthma life. Such things as developing a good action plan, being wary of asthma life triggers, watching your peak flow every day and using natural therapy as well. You must stay on top of your symptoms along with any medication to avoid future asthma life attacks.
A peak flow meter, which is commonly used by asthma lifetics is a device to measure the lung of adult function. It basically will measure the amount of air that you can exhale after fully inhaling. The flow of air can show you whether or not your asthma life is getting worse or is still in control.
The peak flow meter is an important device to manage asthma life and to alert you if there are problems. By keeping track of your airflow you will know whether or not you need to consult with your doctor.
Having a good plan of action in the event that you suddenly have an asthma life attack is very important. For example, if your symptoms become much worse or your peak flow numbers change dramatically, a plan of action will allow you to do what is necessary to avoid the situation becoming much worse.
A lot of asthma lifetics will keep a diary and record peak flow readings, symptoms, mild attacks, medications and so forth, which can be an invaluable for your doctor to determine how well your asthma life plan is doing.
If you have a child who is asthma lifetic and in school, then it is also necessary to make sure that you manage this by involving the appropriate people in the school such as nurses etc. who would need to be involved.
There are many natural asthma life remedies which may help alleviate asthma life problems. Some are natural relaxation techniques and some are dietary or supplements. A lot of this depends on each individual person and the level of their asthma life symptoms.
Obviously, since asthma life is such a serious situation for a lot of people, it is always a good idea to consult with your doctor before embarking on any alternative plan of action. However, there are many asthma life sufferers who have found that natural remedies can be very effective in helping them control their asthma life.
Get A Plan To Be Ready Any Time Allergy Asthma Strikes
If you suffer from allergy asthma then you need to know all about getting relief as quickly as possible from an unexpected attack. Allergy asthma can strike at any time of your life. Many infants and children suffer from it, whilst other people may be into old age before they have an attack.
If you haven’t had an allergic asthma attack for a long time, it’s easy to believe you’re never going to have another one. But the chances are that you will, hence the importance of a plan so that you will know how to handle it the next time.
A vital part of that plan knows the warning signs of an impending attack. They are always there. They might include a sudden difficulty in breathing, a feeling of anxiety, or simply an itch that won’t go away. You’ll have consulted a specialist at some stage after your first attack, whether that was in childhood or more recently. Make sure you stay in contact with a specialist from time to time throughout your life and have regular checkups so you know as much as possible about the condition you have to live with.
Try and establish the cause of each attack – the allergen that set if off. This could be dust mites, tobacco smoke, grass pollen or the polluted air from a busy main road. Although, there’s more to prevent another attack in asthma life by just avoiding those allergens, it’s certainly a step in the right direction.
Next, always carry your medications with you, whether these are anti-histamine sprays, a homeopathic remedy or anything else. It doesn’t matter, as long as it brings relief from your asthma. Make sure that whoever is with you for any length of time, e.g. a travel companion or work colleague knows where it is kept in case you’re not capable of getting hold of it owing to the severity of the attack.
Although you won’t want to burden your companions with too much information about your asthma, most genuine friends won’t mind discussing with you occasionally what to do should you have an attack when you’re alone with them. The important thing is that once an attack commences you should immediately take whatever medication you rely on, and then, as far as possible, relax, sit upright, and concentrate on your breathing. Easier said than, in asthma life done, certainly, but that’s all the more reason for anyone with you to know what to do to help you with this.
One thing that assists a more rapid recovery in most cases is to carry out an alternative health treatment in the form of a little acupressure exercise, as follows. Find the two hollows next to your chest muscles just below the collar bone on each side, and press into them firmly but gently for two or three minutes, or for however long you feel comfortable with. If someone else can do this for you it would be even better as you can then relax your arms and increase the effectiveness of the exercise.
Plan For An Asthma Attack Now!
Asthma usually gives you a warning when it’s about effect your deep breath. There are several pre-symptoms. Watch for a feeling of tightness in the chest. Unusual wheezing and coughing should get your attention. Even restlessness while trying to sleep is another early signal that an asthma life attack may be on its way. If you train yourself to watch for these conditions your will find that you usually have enough time to prepare for or even prevent the asthma life attack.
When you feel the attack coming don’t just sit there! Swing into action. Here are some “fight back” tips:
1) You must have prepared an asthma life attach action plan that you can quickly put into action anytime you feel an attack is coming.
2) An asthma life attack is usually a high stress situation, but you should at least try to stay calm and put your plan into action. First of all… Make sure you take the correct medications – do not mistake prevention drug with an asthma life reliever remedy. Prevention medications have little or no effect in relieving an attack… or they work much too slowly.
3) The best way to be sure you correctly identify your medications is to mark your inhalers with different colours. For example: A blue inhaler for normal prevention, and red inhaler for emergency-use relief. By making these advanced preparations there is less chance you will grab the wrong treatment at the wrong time. You will be prepared for whatever asthma life throws at you.
4) Relax and slow your deep breath! This is not an easy task, but with enough training you can concentrate and control your breath even during an asthma life attack. Practice your deep breath exercises under normal conditions, to make sure you can do them when you’re tense during an attack.
What To Do When Having An Asthma Life Attack – Relaxed Deep Breath
As mentioned above, during an asthma life attack and after taking medication you should begin your relaxation exercises. Start by sitting comfortably in a chair. Then clear you mind and concentrate on relaxing. Visualize the tension leaving your shoulders and neck.
It is important to control your deep breath and not to gasp for air. Maintain your concentration and try to slow your deep breath a little. A good technique is to inhale through your nose, and exhale through your mouth.
Try using a pursed-lip deep breath technique. It can help you control your deep breath. Do that until any breathless feeling subsides and finally disappears. It’s not uncommon to feel dizzy while doing this. Just try to rest between breaths.
What To Do When Having An Asthma Life Attack – When Things Going Wrong
Now, let’s cover what to do when you are having an asthma life attack and you can’t get relief. Despite using the proper medicine and exercises your asthma life attack only seems to get worse. If your effort to breathe becomes extremely laboured, or if you struggle with an asthma life attack for longer than usual and you just don’t seem to be getting better, consider the following:
1) Your attack may be so severe that there is just not time to try and get in touch with your doctor and then travel to his or her office. In this situation it is best to immediately head for the nearest hospital emergency room. This should be a part of your asthma life attack plan. You should know the exact location of at least one emergency facility and the fastest way to get there. If you don’t have a car you should have the number of a friend or taxi company ready to use.
2) Finally… be ready to call for an ambulance. They can get to you in a matter of minutes and they will be ready to give your asthma life attack immediate attention. This is another situation that should be included in your plan. You should have done the research to learn if you should call the ambulance directly, or call 911 and let that emergency service arrange for the ambulance.
When you think “What to do when having an asthma life attack”… you should be able to immediately turn to your plan and put it into action. Your best defence against an asthma life attack is a well prepared plan.
Establishing a Safe & Effective Asthma Action Plan
Before you can come up with an effective plan to help control your asthma, you first need to have the ability to assess the severity of your symptoms. The only objective way you have to check your severity on your own is by using a peak flow meter. If you do not have one, talk it over with your doctor. It’s a necessary tool that could help save your life.
Each peak flow meter comes with a green, yellow, and red marking system. These green, yellow, and red markers are used to determine how your current peak flow measurement compares with your predicted or personal best result.
For example, let’s say your personal best peak flow measurement is 300 litres per minute (lpm). You should then place the green marker that comes with your peak flow meter at the 300 lpm mark of the meter.
NOTE: Everyone has different predicted results just as all meters have different mechanisms of applying this colour coded system. Discover your own predicted or personal best result and follow the directions that your meter provides.
After placing the green marker, you would multiply your personal best result of 300 lpm by 80% (300 x 0.80 = 240). You would then apply the yellow marker at the 240 lpm mark.
A peak flow measurement of 240 lpm would be 80% of your personal best in this example; therefore, any measurement that would fall between 240 and 300 lpm would fall within the green range.
Next, you would multiply your personal best by 50% (300 x 0.50 = 150). You would then apply the red marker to the 150 mark on your meter.
Any measurement that would fall between 150 and 240 lpm would be within the yellow range of your meter; moreover, any measurement less than 150 lpm would fall within the red range.
After you set up your peak flow meter to help you assess the severity of your bronchospasm, it’s time to learn how to use that valuable information appropriately. You need a plan.
Where to Get Reliable Asthma Care Plan
Do you cough, wheeze, or experience shortness of breath and chest pain? If so, you might be experiencing an asthma attack. To know if it is really asthma, you have to go see your doctor. The accurate diagnosis will only be made by your doctor.
First, your family’s medical history will be taken. Next, certain laboratory tests will be done to rule out other possible illnesses that have the same symptoms. And third, lung function tests will be performed to see if there are asthmatic changes in your lungs.
Once an accurate asthma diagnosis is made, your doctor will ask you if you have observed any pattern with the onset of symptoms. This question will help you identify the specific asthma trigger that is affecting you. Remember that asthma is triggered by something. Your air passages will not start swelling unless you get exposed to the specific asthma trigger.
Your asthma trigger can be any of the following: viral infection, bacterial infection, animal dander, molds, cockroach, dust, pollen, exercise, stress, emotional anxiety, cold air, and many more.
Knowing your trigger is an important aspect in preventing an asthma attack from occurring. Aside from avoiding exposure to your trigger, your doctor will also prescribe long-term medications and rescue medications. Also, an asthma care plan will be discussed by your doctor.
This asthma care plan is an important part in the proper management of asthma. Oftentimes this is overlooked by asthma sufferers. But that should not be the case because if you want to achieve good asthma control, you must know and follow you asthma care plan.
The asthma care plan is divided into three zones depending on the severity of your symptoms. This will help you identify into what category your symptoms fall. Aside from that, the asthma care plan will also show you which medications to take for each zone. It will also tell you what the danger signs are. When you experience these danger signs, you have to immediately go to the doctor or the hospital before the symptoms get worst.
The first zone in the asthma care plan is the Green Zone, followed by the Yellow Zone and the Red Zone. When you are in the Green Zone, you are feeling well. In the Yellow Zone, asthma symptoms are getting worse. And the Red Zone means that you are under medical alert and that you must see your doctor immediately.
You can get a reliable asthma care plan in many different sites on the Internet. You simple search for the keywords “asthma care plan” and you will immediately find the sites that have one.