Common mistakes when using asthma inhalers

Inhaled medications are like lifesavers for patients during acute asthma attacks. However, how should they be used to prevent side effects?spray?

Asthma inhalers are contained in aerosol, liquefied gas or vapor forms. Inhalers are only used in cases of acute asthma attacks and must be used correctly and in the correct dosage to be effective. If used incorrectly or incorrectly, the medication will not be effective and the vapor will not be able to enter the bronchi, not helping to relieve asthma.

Asthma inhalers have the effect of quickly relieving asthma attacks. The main use is to deal with acute asthma attacks. The main mechanism of bronchodilator inhalers is to counteract the mechanism of asthma causing bronchospasm due to exposure to allergens. Inhalers should be used before exposure to allergens and before exercise to prevent acute asthma attacks.

Normally, if you let an asthma attack go away naturally, it will take about 30-45 minutes, but if you use an inhaler, it will only take a few minutes to stop the attack. And if an asthma attack occurs suddenly and unexpectedly, you can use an inhaler to suppress the attack.

What mistakes do patients easily make when using nasal sprays?

Some medicine bottles have a dose indicator line. When the dose indicator line reaches zero or the red line, the medicine bottle is empty and needs to be replaced. Some medicine bottles do not have a dose indicator line. Patients should write down the time they started using the medicine and refer to the instructions to know how to check when the bottle is empty.

Often, doctors prescribe patients to use inhalers regularly at home, but when they return home, they are afraid that they will become addicted to inhaling, so they stop inhaling or limit inhaling to injecting or taking medicine. Patients do not understand that asthma is a disease of the bronchial region, so when they inject or take medicine, the amount of medicine that is distributed through the blood throughout the body, reaching the bronchi is very small. On the contrary, places without damage such as the brain and heart receive the medicine.

Inhalers are used to deliver medication into the lungs. If used incorrectly, the medication will not enter the lungs but will fly out, or the amount of medication inhaled into the lungs is not enough, so the medication will not be effective. There are many different inhalers, so the inhalation methods are also different.

However, a common mistake is that the patient does not hold their breath long enough (usually less than 10 seconds). Some patients, when holding the device, let their tongue cover the tip of the tube, so that when spraying the medicine, it only goes to the tongue and not to the bronchi. As a result, no matter how much medicine is sprayed, it does not reach the lungs.

Asthma medication must be used as prescribed by a doctor. After use, patients should rinse their mouth to remove excess medication.

In fact, the drug only works when it is delivered deep into the bronchi, so it only works when the patient tries to inhale deeply like a pipe smoker. If you inhale and feel smoke in your mouth or nose, you will waste the spray and not prevent the disease. With the type of inhaled drug that can be used many times, the patient can only exhale when the inhaler is no longer in his mouth. However, many people exhale even when they are in their mouth, causing the steam from their mouth to fly into the drug, causing moisture and making the drug gradually lose its effectiveness for the next inhalation without the patient knowing.

When asthma is under control, the patient has fewer asthma attacks, but this does not mean that acute asthma attacks will not occur again. When using an inhaler a few times, the disease has improved, so stopping using it is very dangerous. Some patients do not have attacks at home, but when traveling far away, they have acute attacks because of exposure to strange allergens.

Asthma patients who do not have their emergency medication with them can fall into unpredictable dangerous situations. Therefore, asthma patients should always carry their inhalers (both preventer and rescue medications) with them to control acute asthma attacks and regulate asthma symptoms, reducing the frequency of asthma attacks.

Many patients do not understand that chronic asthma cannot be completely cured, so when they use medication, they feel better but when they stop using it, they still have asthma attacks, and they think they are dependent on the medication. Patients should understand that using preventative medication regularly (as prescribed by the doctor) will help control asthma, reduce the frequency of shortness of breath attacks, or if they do have attacks, the symptoms will be mild, reducing the impact on the patient's work and daily activities. Therefore, patients with asthma need long-term medication treatment and should not stop treatment without consulting a doctor.

Use properly to prevent side effects of sprays

The correct way to use asthma inhalers is: Shake the inhaler and spray it into the air before using. Take a deep breath once to remove all the air in the lungs. Put the spray tip of the inhaler in your mouth, then take a deep breath and spray the medicine inside. Remove the inhaler from your mouth and hold your breath for a few seconds to let the medicine absorb and avoid choking.

Note: Rinse your mouth after using spray medicine. Rinsing your mouth after inhaling medicine helps to almost completely remove excess medicine left in the patient's mouth and throat after using the medicine. How to do it: After using corticosteroids in spray or inhalation powder form, the patient should hold clean water in their mouth, then tilt their head back, gently rinse their mouth and throat, then spit out the water. Doing this once is enough to help eliminate excess medicine, thus avoiding oral and throat thrush for the patient.

According to Zing