Asthma is an illness that varies in severity. However, most doctors agree that it can be worse for young children and the elderly. This is because a young child’s lungs are only just developing, which means that they do not yet have the strength to cope with the causes of asthma, such as allergens and pollution. Therefore, an attack is more likely in a younger asthma patient.
Parents should be concerned when it comes to asthma, but there are some ways you can lessen the effects of this illness. What’s more, you can also engage in behaviours that will prevent the symptoms from occurring. Read on to find out more.
Teach Inhaler Technique
Your child’s inhaler is their lifeline. You should always have it on hand whenever you leave the house, but it won’t be of much use if they aren’t using it properly. A young child should know exactly how to use an inhaler on the off chance they have to administer the treatment themselves.
Take some time to ensure that your child is exercising the proper inhaler technique without your assistance. They should take one slow breath in time with the first puff and hold this breath for ten seconds. If your child is still learning about numbers, try and get them to tick off their fingers one at a time until all of them are down. It may take some time, but you will be glad they have this information in a pinch.
Keep An Even Temperature In The House
At a young age, your child is going to spend most of their time in the house. Therefore, you are going to need to maintain this environment to protect them from potential asthma attacks.
One of the biggest factors influencing your child’s asthma is the temperature. Cold air is not beneficial to the lungs. A healthy individual will not notice this temperature change; however, an asthma patient will start to exhibit symptoms if their airways become irritated. What’s more, this air is likely to prevent a strong mucus response. Asthma patients will struggle if this build-up occurs, so you can see why cold air can be detrimental to your child. Make sure that you keep your home at room temperature and ensure that your child wears a loose scarf on chilly days.
Avoid Pets
Having a pet is a great way to teach your child some responsibility as they get older, and these animals can act as companions for the whole family. Unfortunately, pets are not ideal when you have a young asthma patient in the house.
Cats, dogs, and other furry creatures leave behind something called dander, small flecks of skin that shed over time. these flecks can enter your airways when you breathe them in, once again irritating your key airways. Furthermore, these microscopic skin cells can cling to surfaces in your home, making them almost impossible to get rid of.
Your pets can’t help the fact that they are responsible for this dander, so anyone with an existing animal in their home should always take extra care and clean more often. However, if you do not already have a pet, you may want to put off introducing one into your home until your child’s condition improves.
The Right Bed
As your child starts to sleep, their airways narrow as they do not require as much oxygen. This occurrence is still present in asthma patients, which makes them more susceptible to an attack during the night. Parents need quick access to their children during an attack, which is why you need to invest in the right type of children’s bed.
A child with asthma is fine in a normal, single bed; however, any child that needs to share a room with a sibling will benefit from the use of bunk beds for kids. A standard adult is around six foot high, which is around the average height of a top-tier bunk. Therefore, it is much easier to reach an asthmatic child from the top bunk than it is from the bottom. Make sure you remember these sleeping arrangements if you have multiple children sharing a room.
Install An Air Conditioner
It may not seem necessary to have an air conditioner in the UK, mostly because the weather is never warm enough. However, these handy devices do more than just cool the air in your home.
An air conditioner can filter the air, removing things like pollen and other asthma stimuli from the area and replacing it with something much cleaner. This means that your child is at a lower risk of having an asthma attack with these elements removed from your home.
Learn Their Triggers
As you can see from the explanations above, the world is full of elements that can trigger asthma. Fortunately, not every substance is going to be detrimental to your child. A young asthma patient may only respond poorly to cold air or pollen and be unaffected by the other causes of asthma. Therefore, it is your job as a parent to take note of when and where your child is at their most vulnerable. Try to pinpoint certain triggers, so you know what situations to avoid.
Strengthen Their Lungs
Your child’s asthma is slowly going to improve as they age. This is because their lungs get stronger, which means that they are better equipped to deal with the stimulus that causes asthma attacks. However, parents can speed up the strengthening process if their child is up to it.
Regular exercise has been proven to strengthen your lung capacity. Of course, a child with asthma is going to struggle to perform regular, rigorous activities, but some daily exercise routines will help them increase their lung capacity.
Conclusion
Every young child will experience asthma differently. As such, you may find that some of the information above is irrelevant; however, the rest may be crucial. The best thing for a parent of an asthmatic child is to learn more about the condition. Luckily, you have just taken your first steps.
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