Easing the wheeze
Tuesday, December 18, 2001
We've received quite a few enquiries from you regarding childhood asthma. This disorder is on the rise, and can be very frightening for both the parent and child.
What happens during a flare-up?
The airflow becomes reduced as the airways become inflamed and swell. Muscle contractions and thick mucus further impair breathing. A number of things can trigger asthma: pollen, a viral respiratory infection, pollution, dust, animal dander, mould or even exercise. If you think your child may have asthma, it must be diagnosed by a doctor as soon as possible. Then in addition to any medication recommended, these tips will help you manage your child's asthma better.
What You Can Do
- Get into a routine. Daily peak flow meter readings eliminate the guesswork when you're trying to estimate how well your child is breathing.
Practise peak-flow breathing. To help your child develop her blowing technique, place a cotton swab inside one end of a straw. Make a game of it. Have your child take a deep breath, then place the other end of the straw in her mouth and tell her to blow out as hard and as fast as she can. The idea is to make that cotton swab pop out and sail across the room. That way, your child gets a sense of the amount of effort needed to use the peak flow meter.
- Keep an asthma diary. Keep a record of symptoms and what triggered them, daily peak flow meter readings and medications. This information helps you avoid things that trigger symptoms and adjust medication, as needed.
- Ask questions. Be knowledgeable about your child's medications. That includes the benefits and side effects. Ask your pharmacist or doctor, and write everything down so there's no confusion.
- Call a conference. Everyone involved with your child - from day-care workers to school personnel - needs to appreciate the seriousness of the condition and know the details of your child's treatment.
- Supervise medication use. If your doctor has recommended an inhaler, watch closely to make sure he is following instructions. Even with older kids, check up from time to time to make sure they're not over-using the medication.
- Reach out. Contact the Asthma Foundation to get advice on coping strategies, medical update information, tips and moral support for families affected by asthma and allergies. Call (02) 9906 3233, or visit www.asthmansw.org.au.
- Allergy-proof your home. Over 90 per cent of children with asthma under age 16 also have allergies. That means that if your child with asthma is diagnosed as allergic to cats, dust mites, or whatever, you need to allergy-proof your house. Encase your child's mattress and pillows with special covers, for example, and consider removing carpets. Ideally, cats and other pets should be removed. If not, the pet should at least be washed regularly to reduce shedding.
- Make your house a smoke-free zone. Smoke from fireplaces and wood-burning stoves can trigger an asthma flare-up. And no one should be allowed to smoke in a house where a child with asthma lives.
- Teach proper breathing techniques. Knowing how to breathe deeply and slowly can help calm your child during an asthma attack. But the kind of breathing makes a difference, too. Help your child practise diaphragmatic breathing - which means holding the upper chest still while taking a deep breath by moving the abdomen. To do this, have your child lie on the floor and put a book flat on his belly. Tell him to make the book move up and down as he breathes.
- Try music. To build lung power and exercise the airways, your child can take up a musical instrument - or help you blow up balloons.
- Keep calm during flare-ups. An asthma attack is distressing to parents, but it will help the child to stay calm if you don't lose your cool. If your child is coughing or crying, your nervousness will make the wheezing worse. A good tip, especially for littlies who panic during an asthma flare-up, is to calm them with a favourite tape, either video or audio. Reading a favourite storybook aloud can also be soothing.
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