Asthma is a chronic lung disease that affects over 4.5 million children under the age of 18. Although it can be difficult to live with at times, asthma is rarely fatal, and there are several different treatment methods available to keep it under control. As a parent, you can learn all about this and more right here.
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See a Pediatric Allergist
If your child has recently been diagnosed with asthma, your first course of action should be to go and see a pediatric allergist (before doing this, though, your child will need to be referred by a pulmonologist or allergist). From here, specialist treatment can be given to your child, including inhaled and systemic therapies. As a result, you should start to see a hugely positive difference, and they will be able to live with asthma more comfortably.
Carry Your Child’s Inhaler with You Everywhere
No matter where you go, make sure you take your child’s inhaler with you. And if your child is going somewhere by themselves (e.g., school), double-check that they have it with them. Remember, it’s especially important that you have your child’s inhaler with you when you go on long-distance journeys where you’re far away from the house. For example, don’t go on holiday without their inhaler, as this could lead to complications if your child were to then have an asthma attack and you can’t quickly get another inhaler.
Prepare for Unexpected Asthma Attacks
If you do find yourself in a situation where your child has an asthma attack and you don’t have their inhaler, try not to panic. Instead, here’s what you need to do:
- Move your child to a space with clean air and a cool temperature
- Encourage slow breaths
At the same time, take them to the nearest healthcare practice, such as a drop-in hospital, so that they can receive treatment and be assessed. Usually, having an asthma attack without an inhaler won’t cause any long-term harm, but it’s still best to get your child checked out.
In the aftermath of the asthma attack, you should find that the symptoms start to subside, and your child recovers pretty quickly.
Inform the Relevant People
Children often forget to tell people things. This is why it’s your responsibility to let your child’s teachers, tutors, sports coaches, and everyone else in between know that they have asthma. In the case of an asthma attack or other accident, this will allow the people seeing over your son or daughter to react accordingly and even grab their inhaler if they’re unable to reach it.
Provide Emotional Support
At times, living with asthma can be extremely frustrating — especially as a young child or teenager. Therefore, make sure you provide emotional support to your child and let them vent whenever they need to. After all, it’s never a good thing when a young person bottles up their thoughts and feelings, as it can lead to them becoming even more frustrated.
