Good Asthma Management Plan
Asthma management plan becomes very important because asthma is a respiratory ailment which when triggered can choke a person, often bringing him to a near death situation by depriving him of breath if proper treatment is not administered in time. Only a well planned asthma management can ensure healthy active life for asthma patients. What Steps Does A Good Asthma Management Plan Involve? 1. Prevention by identifying the asthma triggers and then avoiding them becomes the first step of a good asthma management plan. Most common triggers are dust mites, pollens present in air during spring and summer seasons, mold spores found in humid environments, animal dander, some kinds of food and high humidity etc. A person may be allergic to more than one trigger so one has to quickly develop a skill to identify the triggers. 2. Getting rid of asthma triggers from indoor air becomes the next step. Installing a good air purifier is a very cost efficient way to do this. When you cannot avoid going outdoors on a day with high pollen count in the air it is highly advisable to use a nose mask or face mask which will prevent the allergens, primarily the pollens, from entering your nose and mouth. 3. Regular exercise is a compulsory part of any good asthma management plan. Daily quota of light and medium level exercise that the body has good resistance in coping with diseases. The respiratory system and heart also gain strength from regular exercise. The lung capacity also increases. 4. Medications necessary in emergency situations should always at hand. You should be prepared if asthma attack strikes even after taking preventive measures. Medications, usually in the form of inhalers, are available to prevent the asthma condition from aggravating and to provide immediate relief to the patient. Aerosol inhalers, dry powder inhalers and breath-actuated inhalers are the three most common types of inhalers. 5. Be aware of your situation. Try to find out how prone are you to have asthma attacks. The best way is to keep track of your asthma symptoms or use a peak flow meter which will give you a very good indication of your asthma level and can warn you of an impending asthma attack. 6. Use of effective therapies is important in any asthma management plan. Allergen immunotherapy makes asthma patient acclimatize with various allergens slowly with the aim of making the person totally immune to those allergens. This is a time consuming process but can be very beneficial when successful. 7. Maintaining records is very important for any asthma management plan. An asthma patient should keep and up-to-date and accurate detail, as elaborate as possible, in a diary which he or she should always carry with him or her. Its important to put down the important medications used by the patient and the doctors name and contact details in an easily accessible place so that in case of emergency the medicine can be made available or the doctor can be contacted.
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