5 Ways to Prevent Severe Asthma Symptoms

Asthma is a health condition that causes your airways to narrow, swell, and produce extra mucus. This can make it difficult to breathe normally, leading to other symptoms, such as coughing, wheezing, and shortness of breath. 

For some, asthma is very minor and inconvenient; however, for others, asthma can be severe and even life-threatening. Because of this, it’s important to know what triggers your asthma so you can keep it under control. Though there’s no cure for asthma, there are plenty of ways to prevent severe flare-ups of the condition.

At the Allergy and Asthma Institute of Southeast Michigan in Farmington Hills, Michigan, allergy and asthma specialist Chad W. Mayer, DO, FAAAAI, FAAP, leads our team in expert asthma management. In this blog, we discuss five practical ways you can keep your asthma symptoms at bay.

1. Identify your asthma triggers

Most people with asthma have flare-ups of the condition when they encounter certain triggers. These triggers are unique to each person, but here are some commonly reported ones:

• Air pollution
• Exercise
• Pet dander
• Dust mites
• Allergies
• Viruses
• Cold air

If you’re not sure what triggers your asthma, start keeping a diary of when you have asthma flare-ups to help you narrow down what’s causing your asthma attacks. Once you’ve nailed down the triggers specific to you, do your best to avoid all your triggers.

2. Take any necessary medications

Two types of asthma medication include long-acting and short-acting. 

Long-acting medications work to keep your asthma under control and limit the amount of asthma attacks you have. These are medications like inhaled corticosteroids and biologic medications. They can reduce body-wide inflammation and stop an asthma attack before it happens.

Short-acting medications are things like inhalers or nebulizers that should only be used in emergency situations to give you relief. If you have to use these regularly, you may need to re-evaluate your long-acting medication choices. 

3. Look into immunotherapy 

If your asthma is often triggered by things you’re allergic to, immunotherapy might be a good management solution. Immunotherapy exposes you to allergens regularly to help your body get used to the allergen and lessen your body’s response to it. By reducing the severity of your allergic reactions, you should have fewer and less severe asthma attacks as a result.

4. Stay up-to-date on vaccinations

When you have asthma, it puts you at a much higher risk for complications from the flu. You might develop pneumonia or struggle with asthma symptoms for several weeks. Because of this, you need a flu vaccine every year. We can also talk about which pneumonia vaccine would work best for you. 

5. Always follow your asthma action plan

Your asthma action plan contains all the details of your condition, and it tells you what medications to take and what to do when you have an asthma attack. Always take your medications even if you feel fine and have an inhaler with you at all times. 

If you do have an asthma attack, your action plan will take you through all the necessary steps and let you know when it’s time to contact us.

For more asthma management tips, contact our office by calling us at 248-363-3232 or booking an appointment online.