Managing your asthma means that you can lead a full life despite your diagnosis. There are numerous approaches in controlling or keeping asthma from adversely affecting your life. Read on to find some helpful tips and techniques to take back your life despite the diagnosis of asthma!
Your asthma should be well under control to prevent attacks. The fact is that maintenance and prevention are the best ways to avoid crisis. Having a working relationship with your doctor or specialist will keep you on top of your symptoms and on the medication that works with your specific needs.
A great tip that can help you deal with asthma is to exercise indoors. A lot of people just assume that they can’t exercise because they have asthma, but that’s not the case. The cold air outside is what aggravates asthma and you can avoid it by exercising indoors.
If you are going to exercise, start very slowly. Sudden exercise such as taking off running can trigger asthma for most people. You can exercise, but do some warming up exercises that will gradually increase your heart rate until you feel comfortable with harder exercises. Do not force yourself to exercise if you feel you are going to have an asthma attack.
You may want to avoid getting pets, especially those with longer fur, if you have asthma. For many people, pet dander and fur is one of the major triggers of asthma attacks. If you really want to get a pet, try to get one with short fur or get an aquatic animal, like a fish.
People that have asthma are often known to have allergies that can trigger your symptoms. Make sure you know what you are allergic to so that you can learn to stay away from the things that can hurt you. An allergist is the best one to give you a broad allergy test.
Try a leukotriene inhibitor if you have asthma. These work by preventing the formation of leukotrienes. The inflammation caused by this substance can trigger the symptoms of asthma. The inhibitor will keep the leukotrienes from forming, which can reduce the frequency of asthma attacks that you experience.
Avoid being around smoke and fumes. Smoke, including cigarette smoke and vehicle exhaust, contain small particles of dust and chemicals, which can irritate the bronchial linings. This irritation is dangerous for asthmatics, as it can interfere with breathing in an already compromised system. Breathing in cigarette smoke especially can trigger an asthma attack.
You may want to get into a support group if you have asthma. The people in the group are in the same situation as you so they know what you have to go through everyday. Also, they may have personal tips of what you can do to control your asthma symptoms.
By now, you have learned a number of techniques that can reduce your asthma to a mere annoyance. Asthma does not have to be a death sentence, so if you can make a plan on how to live with asthma, you will have a much more fulfilling life.