As a parent, ensuring your child is fit and healthy will be your number one priority. A sick kid is one of the most difficult things a parent can experience; it can be the cause of significant mental and emotional distress.
Asthma is a common respiratory condition that is particularly prevalent among children. In the UK, it is estimated that 8 million have been diagnosed with childhood asthma, but many kids simply grow out of the inflammatory lung disease. Parents are responsible for their child’s health, so if your toddler develops asthma symptoms you will need to take steps to manage the condition.
We’ve put together a guide with some advice and top tips for managing asthma in children.
What Causes Asthma?
Before you can take steps to manage your child’s asthma, it’s important to know what causes the condition and what kind of symptoms can arise from it. Asthma causes the airways in the lungs to narrow and can result in an overproduction of mucus.
This can result in a number of symptoms including difficulty breathing and wheezing, pain or tightness in the chest, brachio-spasms (in the upper arms), and coughing. An asthma attack is when these symptoms rapidly become worse over a short period of time.
For some people, asthma can be mild. However, for others a severe asthma attack can be a serious medical emergency that requires immediate care.
Being told your child is asthmatic can be incredibly worrying. However, there are steps you can take and paediatric asthma treatment options available to manage the condition. Let’s find out more.
Avoid Asthma Triggers
Asthma is a condition that can flare up when a sufferer is exposed to particular triggers. Different people are more sensitive to certain triggers than others, so identifying which triggers affect your child’s asthma can help you manage the condition and prevent attacks. Some common triggers include dust, pollen, smoke, cold air, stress, and infections such as the cold or flu. If you can identify which of these triggers your child is sensitive to you can then take steps to limit their exposure to them and apply strong preventative asthma management.
Make Proper Use Of Medicines
There are medicines available that can help alleviate the symptoms and treat asthma attacks. These will be prescribed when your child first undergoes paediatric asthma treatment. While asthma medicines will sometimes come in a pill or liquid form, they are commonly administered through the use of an inhaler. Always ensure you have your child’s inhaler to hand so that it can be easily accessed and used as and when they need it.
Draw Up An Action Plan
An attack can happen without warning, at any time of the day or night so its essential to have strategies in place. One of the best things you can do is to draw up a detailed action plan should an attack occur. This should include what steps to take when an attack occurs and how to properly contact emergency services. Having a plan in place can help mitigate the damage and severity and keep the asthma under control.
Conclusion
Asthma can be a potentially serious condition, but with the correct and proper management you can ensure that it will not have long-term consequences for your child. By understanding what triggers an attack, you can control symptoms to prevent asthma attacks for a full and active life.
