How to help a child with asthma

Asthma is one of the top 10 chronic illnesses and nearly one third of the 26 million people diagnosed with it are under the age of 18. The reality of having to help children deal with the prospect of a lifelong battle with asthma is an unfortunate fact. While children are resilient, they can have a hard time accepting the fact that they have to alter their lives to accommodate this condition.

For the onset of asthma in young children, explanation of the condition can be helpful. Using terms that they understand is key. Asthma is an inflammatory condition of the bronchial airways that causes normal function to become excessive and over-reactive, causing extra mucus production and narrowing of the airways. They are not likely to understand this explanation and are only going to understand that they have trouble breathing when they play soccer, that they have to sit out a few rounds of dodge ball in gym glass, that they cough at night or that they seem to get sick a lot. It's your job to explain what's really happening in their little bodies and how to manage their symptoms so that they can lead full and happy lives in harmony with their conditions.

To help you, there are a handful of books out there written for children. I'm Tougher Than Asthma by Alan Carter and Alan Siri, Winning over Asthma by Eileen Dolan and The ABCs of Asthma by Kim Gosselin are good places to start. Another option is a book and companion workbook written by Shawn McCormick, a respiratory therapist and Ginny Trevino, a health care administrator. The series is called Zoey and the Zones, A Story for Children with Asthma (and Companion Workbook). A quick search online or at your local bookseller should dig up these books for you.

The next step in helping your child manage his or her asthma is helping him or her manage the symptoms. Symptoms are managed primarily through two means: medication and managing triggers. Until your child is old enough to help you with this, you will be the administrator of both of these management tactics.

For medication, you will have to be the advocate for your child at the doctor's office. That means you will have to be well versed on what medications are available to your child and how he or she is responding to treatment. Know what side effects he or she is having and how well managed his or her condition seems to be as a result of the medication he or she has been prescribed. Know that if he or she is still having recurrent asthma attacks that it is likely an indication that the medication regiment that he or she is on is not appropriate for her asthma. Remember that the goal of medication is to control asthma on as little as possible.

Medication is divided into two categories: bronchodilators and anti-inflammatory. Bronchodilators open the longs and help ease breathing to ease symptoms. They come in short and long acting. Anti-inflammatory drugs prevent airways from becoming swollen and may decrease mucus and have to be taken on a regular schedule. You and your child's doctor will work together to figure out what medications are best for your child. Side effects for each can vary widely from cardiovascular symptoms like increased heart rate, palpations and irregular heartbeat to other symptoms like nervousness, sleeplessness, headache, nausea, vomiting, cramps, diarrhea, tremor, shaking and restlessness.

Controlling triggers is the other way to help your child with his or her asthma. Your child relies on you to provide them with a safe and healthy environment and keeping your home as free of triggers that aggravate their asthma is something you need to do for them. Common household triggers are dust, animals, airborne irritants, mold and allergens. They can all be controlled and kept to a minimum with a little extra care on your part.

Dust is composed primarily of dust mites and their body parts. You can help control their effect on your child by helping to minimize where they live in your home. Eliminate as many rugs, carpets and drapes as you can. Keep dust-collecting knick-knacks to a minimum and dust what you do have regularly. Keep your home dusted and vacuumed, but do so when your asthmatic child is not around, because you'll be throwing particles into the air for them to inhale. Change your air filters on the air conditioner and furnace regularly and keep the relative humidity in your home at or below 50%, giving the little mites little moisture to survive.

Animals are a common trigger, surprisingly not because of their hair, but because of the dander that they shed on their skin. Try not to own pets. But, if you do own pets, try to keep them limited to certain rooms of the house so that your asthmatic child has some "safe" clean rooms to go to, especially their own bedroom. Bathe your pets often, so their skin is as clean as possible. If you do not have pets, keep visits to homes that do have pets as short as possible and leave when you notice your child beginning to show symptoms.

Airborne irritants can range from room deodorizers, perfumes, cleaning supplies and cigarette smoke. Figure out what irritants trigger your child's symptoms and avoid them. Cigarette smoke is a universal. If you smoke, stop. Second-hand smoke is equally as bad. Help keep your child away from it. Use hypoallergenic cleaning supplies when you can and if you need to, clean when your child is away from home.

Mold in your home is a gross idea, but you probably have some and if you do, it can trigger your child's asthma symptoms. It can lurk in damp basements or around sinks and on damp bathroom floors, anywhere it's dark and there's moisture. Think about places like under your laundry room sink or under your kitchen sink or in poorly ventilated areas of your house, like closets. Mold is common in like damp towels, potted plants, humidifiers, vaporizers and refrigerators. Preventing the growth of mold in the first place is the key to keeping it under control, but using a fungicide or a bleach solution may be necessary.

Outdoor allergens are likely out of your control, but you can do your part to help your child manage his or her symptoms based on your area. Every area of the country has their own batch of allergens based on the time of year. Ragweed, pollen, outdoor mold, and more all flower and spore at different times of the year and even at different times of the day. Become an expert on your area and know when to let your child out to play or even when to open the windows in your house, if at all. Teach your child.

If you teach your child how best to manage his or her life around asthma, it will be easier to life symptom-free. The fewer symptoms that he or she experiences, the more comfortable he or she will be with having asthma and the more confident he or she will be growing up with asthma and managing it on his or her own into adulthood.