5 Most Effective Asthma Treatment for Children
Asthma in children is one of the most common causes of school sickness permits. Recurrent asthma can interfere with sleep, play, and other child activities. Asthma can not be cured, but you and your child can alleviate symptoms by following a number of asthma treatment action plans.
The purpose of asthma treatment in children
Asthma in children should always be treated under the supervision of a doctor. The goals of treatment are to:
- Reduce the frequency and worsening of symptoms, and reduce or prevent symptoms of chronic cough and difficulty breathing
- Develop an "action plan" for asthma symptoms to reduce emergency medical treatment
- Allows the child to grow and develop normally and follow normal childhood activities as much as possible
- Controlling the symptoms of children with the least amount of drugs possible to reduce the risk of side effects of drugs
- Ensure regular school attendance
- Reduce the risk of back and forth to the emergency and rescue care needs
How to treat asthma in children?
1. Design an asthma action plan
With this goal in mind, your pediatrician will prescribe medication and may refer you to a specialist who is able to diagnose asthma in children. Your doctor will also help you plan a specific home care program at home. This will include learning how to use drugs and prescribed treatments and developing plans to avoid irritants and allergens that may cause the child to cough or sigh. It may be helpful to write down your ongoing asthma management plan, which should explain the child's medication, when and how to take medication, and other instructions given by the pediatrician to maintain the condition of the child.
2. Using a spirometer
If the child's asthma appears to be triggered by severe allergies, the pediatrician may refer you to a child's allergy specialist or lung specialist. Assessment of a child's lung function may include the use of a device called a spirometer, which measures the amount of air that a child can exhale from within the lungs. Spirometers are technically not successful for children under 3-5 years.
3. Prescription drugs
Prescription drugs for children will depend on the nature of asthma. There are two main types of asthma medications. The first type opens the respiratory tract and relaxes the inhibiting muscle. This rapidly relieving drug or "savior" is called a bronchodilator. The second type is a control or maintenance drug, which is useful for treating inflammation of airways (swelling and mucus production).
Drugs that relieve quickly or rescue are intended for short-term use. When a child has an asthma attack, with a cough and / or sigh, a rescue drug should be given. For example albuterol. By opening up the narrowed airways, this rescue drug can ease the feeling of tightness inside the chest and reduce wheezing and the feeling of not being able to breathe. These drugs are prescribed based on need.
If the asthma attack gets worse, the doctor may provide additional medication - such as oral corticosteroids. It is important to realize that if there is no progress or change after giving the drug rescue, the child may need further assessment. Typically breathing will improve for several hours before returning wheezing.
Some children continue to sigh mildly even though it has been treated, but as long as the child eats and is not in trouble this may not matter.
4. Drug suction
Rescue drugs may be administered with HFA-induced inhaled drugs (HFA = hydrofluoroalkanes) -also known as puffer-or with a nebulizer.
Controlling drugs are intended for daily use. They are designed to control childhood asthma and reduce the number of asthma symptoms in the evening and night. In general, control drugs are suitable for children who have symptoms twice or more a week, who are awakened with symptoms more than twice a month, requiring more than two sets of oral steroids within a year, or who have been hospitalized for asthma symptoms. This drug is able to reduce inflammation slowly and all the time but not immediately relieve symptoms.
The most effective controlling drug is inhaled corticostreoid. There are several different types, but they all work by preventing inflammation in the airways, which could potentially reduce the number and severity of episodes of asthma. In infants and young children, inhaled corticosteroids may be administered via a nebulizer with a face mask or through a suction. The sucker requires a plastic tube called a spacer or chamber that stores the volume, which is required to allow the particle space to spread out and reach a small area of the lungs.
Without a spacer, most of the drugs will return to the throat and swallow rather than suck. In infants and small children, this is usually done with a mask (small or medium), which should be placed on the face with a good seal when the child takes several breaths. Spacer can also be a protective mouth for older children, which requires the child to breathe and hold his breath slowly for 10 seconds.
Usually two blows are given for 1 minute apart, with the child taking 6 breaths for each blow, which can be repeated every 4-6 hours or as directed by the doctor. After using suction steroids, it is important for the child to clean and spit or brush his teeth.
5. Nebulizer
Another way to enter the drug is with a nebulizer. The compressor (or breathing machine) connects with the tube to a small glass-like device to the medicine premises. The compressor converts the liquid into dew which is then inhaled. In young children, masks are used and should be mounted on the face with a good seal. If it does not have a good seal, most medicines evaporate and never reach the lungs.
It is advisable to administer the drug when the child is not fussing or crying, because breathless and sadness can reduce the amount of drug that can reach the lungs. This may not always be the case, but over time most children learn to receive drugs.
Which asthma treatment is most effective for children?
Although all techniques are equally effective, the child may be more cooperative with one technique than the other. Rescue medications may appear to be more effective through the nebulizer, but the dubbed albuterol dose is generally larger than the two blows transmitted by the suction. Because asthma can be a complicated and perhaps different disease in everyone, the doctor will determine the care of every child.
If the child's symptoms appear intermittent, the pediatrician may only provide a bronchodilator for cough or episodic wheezing. When chronic or recurrent asthma, doctors will usually prescribe control drugs for regular use. These drugs generally take two weeks to fully effect.
Anti-inflammatory drugs - the most common inhaled corticosteroids - are recommended for all children with asthma who have prolonged symptoms. The drug is very effective and safe but should be used regularly. These drugs often fail because they are not used consistently. Because it does not have a rapid effect, children are often tempted to stop using it. However, stopping it will leave the child's airways unprotected, and she may have an asthma attack.
A relatively new class of controlling drugs called leukotriene receptor antagonists precludes chemical activity (leukotriene) associated with inflammation of the airways; they only apply to oral preparations, such as in pill form and granule powder and chewable tablets. Although not as effective as inhaled causatichosteroids in preventing asthma attacks, this drug may be an option for mild prolonged symptoms or other than suction corticosteroids.
Again, these drugs should be given daily to prevent attacks. Another way for a child to receive certain drugs is through a dry powder sucker, which releases the drug without any propellant. The child must rely on his own strength of inhalation to take medicine and put it in the lungs. As a result, these drugs are generally not prescribed until the child reaches school age (at least 5-6 years).
Are there any side effects of asthma treatment in children?
Be sure to give the medicine as directed by your doctor. Do not stop taking the drug too quickly, reduce the recommended administration, or switch to medications or other treatments without first discussing changes with your doctor.
In some children, some medications may be given at the same time to control asthma, and then the amount of medication that is reduced once asthma symptoms are restrained. If you do not understand why a particular treatment has been suggested, or how it should be administered, ask for an explanation.
In some cases, asthma in children does not make any progress even when they are on medication. If this happens, more asthma medications may be needed, they may not have asthma, or other medical conditions may interfere with their treatment. The pediatrician will examine the child and the problems that aggravate his asthma, such as allergic rhinitis, sinus infections, and stomach acid (GERD).
