You know you have asthma, or you suspect as much, and now your mission is to gain control of it so you can get your life back. Or perhaps you're a concerned parent of an asthmatic.
Here are ten tips to better asthma control.
1. Asthma doctor: You must find a good asthma doctor who will work with you on managing your asthma. Not only must you and your doctor be a good asthma control team (as I write here), you must be able to tell if your doctor is doing a good job (to learn how click here). So finding a good doctor is the key to managing your asthma, and a great place to start. (To learn more about the different types of asthma doctors click here).
2. Diagnosing asthma: For your doctor to treat your asthma, you must first get a proper diagnosis. There is no specific test that says, "You have asthma." However, there are a series of questions a doctor can ask you (like these), and tests he may perform, to help him make a definitive diagnosis.
To learn more about diagnosing asthma, click here.
3. Determining level of control: How controlled is your asthma? For most asthmatics, well-controlled asthma is determined by having symptoms or using your rescue inhaler two days a week or less, and being able to live a normal, active life. However, some asthmatics may have more severe asthma (like this guy), and therefore, may set their own goals for determining control.
To help you determine how well controlled your asthma is, check out this chart, and then take this quiz.
4. Determine severity: How severe is your asthma? Most asthmatics have mild or moderate asthma; their asthma is easy to control just by following the tips in this post. However, some asthmatics (around 10 percent) have hardluck asthma, and their asthma is difficult to control even if they are gallant asthmatics. If you have hard luck asthma, here are some tips to help you get your asthma under control. To determine how severe your asthma is, take this test.
5. Set goals: It's up to you to set goals that you want to achieve as far as your asthma is concerned. Do you want to run marathons? Do you want to be symptom free? A more reasonable goal may be to maintain your current quality of life. You'll need to work with your doctor on setting goals that are appropriate for you.
6. Asthma triggers: You must work with your doctor on finding out what exactly is triggering your asthma. If your asthma is seasonal, or if you suspect allergies, he might send you to an allergist to have allergy testing done. Once you know your triggers you can better deal with them, or avoid them altogether.
To learn more about asthma triggers click here and here. To learn how to avoid allergies, click here.
7. Asthma medicine: If avoiding your asthma triggers is not good enough, you'll want to work with your doctor on finding the right potions to help you manage your asthma. There are two types of asthma medicines:
