Helping Children with Asthma – What Every Parent Should Know

Helping children with asthma is easy as long as you have a defined treatment plan. By getting the right information and the best medical care, you can effectively manage the disorder to improve the quality of life of your child.

One of the first things you need to do is to know everything about asthma. If you have a thorough understanding of a particular disorder, then you will definitely have an easier time in finding the right treatment for your child.

An Overview of Asthma: Causes and Symptoms
In the United States alone, there are more than nine million children with asthma. Tens of millions more are suffering from this disorder throughout the world. Experts believe that the increasing prevalence of asthma can be attributed to the worsening condition of global air quality.

Environmental pollutants such as dust and tobacco smoke are the leading causes that trigger asthma attacks in children. This condition is also hereditary and can be passed on from one generation to another. However, episodes of attacks are always triggered by pollutants and allergens.

An asthma attack is characterized by shortness of breath, wheezing, chronic cough, and breathing difficulty. If one or several of these symptoms are evident, then your child could be suffering from an attack. However, you have to remember that the symptoms may vary from child to child. It is always best therefore to bring your child to a doctor for proper diagnosis.

Treatment Plan for Children with Asthma
When creating a treatment plan, you need to closely coordinate with your child’s doctor. Make sure that you have a list of symptoms and the necessary actions that you need to do to address an asthma attack.

To make things easier, here is a simple action plan for managing juvenile asthma:
1.  Closely monitor the symptoms. This is one of the most important things that you need to do. You need to keep close tabs on the symptoms to prevent serious episodes of attack.

2.  Always prepare a quick-relief inhaler. Once you detect clear indications of an impending attack, you need to promptly give relief to your child. A quick-relief inhaler, which should be prescribed by your child’s doctor, must always be ready.

3.  Know how to adjust the medication. There are times when your child will suffer from moderate attacks of asthma. In these situations, you need to know how to properly calibrate the medications to ease your child’s suffering. Again, you need to work closely with your doctor to know how to increase the dosage of asthma medications.

4.  Learn when to get emergency medical care. Children with asthma can suffer from severe and very alarming episodes of attack. Most of these attacks require emergency medical treatment. So you need to know when to bring your child to the nearest hospital for proper emergency care.

For some parents, helping children with asthma can be very stressful. You can avoid this problem by knowing the right treatment plan for juvenile asthma. Most importantly, you have to closely work with your doctor to effectively manage your child’s condition.