Controlling Allergy Induced Asthma | Teen Ink

Controlling Allergy Induced Asthma

May 10, 2017
By Anonymous

New technologies have created lots of techniques to lesser the effect allergy induced asthma has on those affected by it. There are a lot of ways to make allergy induced asthma better, Some of these are asthma inhalers, allergy shots, and asthma medication.

One way to weaken allergy induced asthma is taking an asthma inhaler, also called a bronchodilator, or a nebulizer. An asthma inhaler is a handheld device that delivers the needed  medication straight into your lungs. An asthma inhaler has fewer side effects and is faster than an IV or pill would be. There are two main types of asthma inhalers, short-acting and long-acting. A short-acting inhaler is a form of a “rescue” inhaler used for quick relief. There are medications to treat small asthma symptoms or asthma attacks. The medication reaches the lungs within minutes and lasts for two to four hours. Short-acting bronchodilators are also used before exercise to prevent exercise-induced asthma. Where as a long-acting inhaler can be used everyday to control asthma. This type of inhaler proved control of asthma not just quick relief. Benefits of using an inhaler would be more control over your asthma, less asthma attacks and flare ups and fewer hospital visits. A nebulizer is designed to deliver liquid medication directly to the lungs. This device turns the liquid medication into fine droplets creating a steam like mist or spray. The electrical or battery powered machine has a tube attached to it that has a mouthpiece connected to the other end that carries the medication into the body. A nebulizer is easier to use and more relaxing than an inhaler. Unlike an inhaler, you don’t have to take deep breaths to get the medicine to your lungs. Just a few of the things a nebulizer can treat is asthma, allergies, bronchitis, and the flu.

Another form of decreasing allergy induced asthma is allergy shots or immunotherapy. Allergy shots are injections, typically given in your arm, given at increasing intervals over a time period recommended by your doctor.  In the beginning, you will go to the doctor once or twice a week for several months and get the shots in your upper arms. The dosage will increase until you reach what’s called the maintenance dose. After this, you will get shots every two to four weeks for four to five months. Your doctor will then have you come in once a month for your shots for the next three to five years. Each shot given contains a small amount of the specific substance(s) that you are allergic to. Each shot contains just enough allergens, a substance that causes an allergic reaction, to stimulate your immune system but not enough to cause a huge allergic reaction. Over time the doctor increases the amount of allergens in each shot. This helps your body to get used to these allergens. Your immune system builds up a tolerance to the allergens causing your allergy(s) to lessen over time. During the time period in which the shots are given your symptoms get better and may even go away completely. Allergy shots have proven to have a 90% accuracy in clinical studies. After about three months the allergy shots really start to show their effectiveness. If you use allergy shots, after the three months you may be able to reduce your use of allergy medicine. After a while, allergy medicine may not even be needed.

Another widely use for of asthma control is  an asthma medication. Asthma medication can play a huge role in the handling of your asthma. There are two types of treatments and each is designed for a specific target area. These are controller medications and quick-relief medications. Controller medications prevent asthma attacks and are the most important medicine for people suffering from asthma.This drug makes the lungs less inflamed and it less likely for you to react to triggers. Quick-relief medications are also known as rescue medications. These drugs relax the muscles surrounding your airway. This type of medication is mostly used by people who have exercise-induced asthma. Along with these two types of medications, there are also long-term asthma controlling medications. If you are using asthma medication as your cure to asthma it is the foundation of staying healthy so knowing all about your medication is important. Before taking the medicine you should know what it does, how fast it works, the side effects, and how often they should be taken. If your asthma medication is not helping or worsening your asthma, call your doctor and tell the what is going on.

With the help of today's technology and doctors there are lots of techniques and game plans to use to help you or someone you know with your/their asthma. When looking over asthma treatments keep in mind the wonderful benefits of asthma inhalers and nebulizers,  immunotherapy/allergy shots, and asthma medications. Even though all of these are great treatments, doctors are always wanting to achieve more. What do you think will be the next idea to control asthma?



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