There may be common environmental factors or ‘triggers’ that can affect your child’s asthma in school. For example; grass/tree pollens, dust mites, mould spores, exercise, not to mention school with lots of children are a great breeding ground for coughs and colds! It is important to let the school know if you have identified things […]
Exercise is important for keeping healthy and all children should be encouraged to take part in PE, including those with asthma. Exercise is a well known asthma ‘trigger’ however it is not a reason to be refused physical activity altogether. If your child experiences symptoms with exercise they should take their reliever inhaler 10 minutes […]
Children with asthma should be easily identified, for example on the class register. Asthma education for staff members should be offered. An asthma healthcare plan or flowchart should be completed for individual children with asthma. A reliever inhaler and spacer for each child should be easily available for use in an emergency (not in a […]
You may notice your child’s breathing becomes a real effort. Have a look to see if their chest, tummy or neck muscles are pulling in when they take a breath. Are they breathing much faster than normal? Are they struggling to breathe? Are they no better after the 4 puffs of their reliever (blue) medicine? […]
Starting treatment early is key and may prevent the need for a hospital admission and the distress this can be for you and your child. As soon as you see the symptoms of a cold, infection or a known trigger start using your child’s reliever (blue) inhaler 2-4 puffs every 4 hours for around 4 […]
There are specific techniques for using inhalers with or without spacer devices depending on the age of your child and the prescribed inhaler they are given. It is very important to follow the specific instructions about how to use the inhalers as given by the doctor, nurse or pharmacist. It is useful to have a […]
Sometimes a child will have an asthma attack and need emergency treatment before they have been officially diagnosed with asthma. This will be frightening for you and for them. Signs to look for can include the following: You may notice your child’s breathing becomes a real effort. Have a look to see if their chest, tummy […]
Your doctor may decide there is a strong possibility that your child has asthma. Remember there is not one single test to confirm asthma. They will want to see if the child will respond and improve with asthma treatment or not. Giving asthma medicines to small children, especially inhalers, is not easy and it can […]
Long acting relievers work on the lung tissue to relax it and open up the airways. They work for a long time so they are usually taken once or twice a day. Please note there is no audio for this animation.
