Winter Woes: Managing Asthma among Kids

Winter season comes with both wellbeing and health hazards. The incidence of problems of the respiratory tract like Asthma, Pneumonia, viral infections, etc increase in the winter months. Children who suffer from asthma are at a higher risk as viral infections act as a trigger to precipitate an attack of asthma. Other factors include pollution, dry air and lack of exercise. Air pollution which is worse in the winters is an important trigger to precipitate an asthma attack. Hence it is important to have an Asthma Action Plan in place for these children so that symptoms can keep under control. 

Inhalation therapy is the mainstay of asthma treatment or management. Inhaled medications go directly to the lungs, allowing them to act faster and at lower doses, lowering the chance of side effects. Inhaled medicines have been found to improve disease status, symptom control, the number and severity of exacerbations, and overall quality of life. Inhalers are of two kinds, the relievers and controllers. The controllers are prescribed by your doctor to prevent an asthma attack while relievers help reduce symptoms of cough and breathlessness if there is an exacerbation of asthma.

Management of Asthma: Tips  

• It's critical to keep the reliever inhaler on hand at all times so that it can be taken it as soon as symptoms develop.

• It's important to properly warm-up before playing a game. Warm and moisten the air that enters the lungs by taking slow, deep breaths through your nose with the proper breathing rhythm.

• It is necessary to take your controller inhaler regularly as per your doctor’s advice and especially prior to exercise or ant physical activity like a game.

• One must master the correct technique of taking these inhalers with the spacers.

Many kids under utilize their medications or use their inhalers incorrectly, which can be detrimental to maintaining disease control. Relying only on oral therapy might be hazardous. Effective management is a must as kids are not only fighting the disease but also phobias/ myths associated with it. Increasing public awareness through mass media may help kids to go for the correct treatment.