It’s hard to see your child sick. The good news is that you can help your child gain control over asthma. That means fewer days out of school and fewer attacks that can be scary for you and your child.

Along with the doctor, you have an important role in helping your child control asthma. We congratulate you for reading this article’

Be aware of your child’s warning signs

Often your child may show warning signs. Warning signs are clues that your child’s asthma may be getting worse.

A very young child may not be able to tell you how he or she feels. So you may have to watch a younger child more closely to find out if something is wrong.

How will I know if asthma is getting worse?

Learn your child’s warning signs and catch an attack before it gets worse. While warning signs differ from child to child, parents report some common signs.

Think about the last time your child had an asthma attack. On the next page, check off the signs you noticed before the attack. Be sure to go over this checklist with your child’s doctor.

Emergency Warning Signs

There are times when you need to take your child to the hospital or urgent care right away.

Ask your child’s doctor what emergency signs to look for to help you know when your child is having a medical emergency with asthma.

Some parents know their child is having a medical emergency with asthma if he or she:

• Is breathing in a different way: faster, or slower, or more shallow than usual.
• Is coughing or wheezing and can’t stop.
• Has bluish fingernails or lips

Make an asthma action plan

The action plan looks at what triggers or brings on your child’s asthma. The plan also includes your child’s daily medicine needs. And the plan lists rescue medicines for quick-relief during an attack or when asthma signs start.

Work with your child’s doctor and come up with a written action plan for managing your child’s asthma.

• Share the asthma action plan with your child’s school, teachers, babysitters, and family members.
• Talk it over with people in your child’s life. In case of an asthma attack they will know what to do.

While asthma action plans may differ from doctor to doctor, most plans will address two areas: a daily program and a rescue program.

Follow the action plan. It can help lower the number of asthma attacks. Talk to your child’s doctor if you need to make changes in the plan.

The action plan’s daily program may list:

• Your child’s asthma triggers
• Daily medicines and how to use them
• Peak flow meter chart

The action plan’s rescue program may list:

• Your child’s warning signs
• Your child’s peak flow meter readings
• Names of the rescue medicines used to treat asthma as an asthma attack gets worse
• Steps to take if your child has an asthma attack and when to call the doctor
• Emergency numbers and when to take your child to the emergency room

Learn what may trigger your child’s asthma

As we said above, triggers are the things that can start your child’s asthma attack or make it worse. Your child may have just one trigger or you may find that several things act as triggers.

• For some kids, being around pets or dust can trigger asthma.
• Some kids find their asthma gets worse from cigarette smoke.
• For other kids, running and playing may bring onan asthma attack.

Be sure to work with the doctor to identify your child’s asthma triggers.

Once you know what triggers your child’s asthma, it is important to take steps to control these triggers.

Remembering to smoke outside or keeping pests out of your home means taking action every day. The more these habits are part of your daily life, the less chance there is your child will have an asthma attack.

Outdoor Air Pollution—What You Can Do:

When the AQI reports unhealthy levels (orange, red or purple):

• Have your child play outdoors at times when the air quality is better. In the summer, this may be in the morning.
• Limit outdoor games that involve running hard for a long time.

Pay attention to your child’s asthma warning signs. If you start to see signs, limit outdoor activity. Be sure to talk about this with your child’s doctor.

A Note About Chemical Irritants

Chemical irritants found in some products in your house may make your child’s asthma worse. Your child’s asthma may be worse around scented or unscented products, including cleaners, paints, adhesives, pesticides, cosmetics, or air fresheners.

If you find that your child’s asthma gets worse when you use a certain product, consider trying different products. If you must use a product, then you should:

• Make sure your child is not around.
• Open windows or doors, or use an exhaust fan.
• Remember to always follow the instructions on the label

Just to Recap

• Learn all you can about your child’s warning signs.
• Ask questions. Work with your child’s doctor to come up with an asthma action plan that works for your child and your family.
• Follow the action plan. Make sure all the people who care for your child know about the plan and how to follow it.
• Read about asthma triggers.
• Learn all you can about your child’s triggers. Work with your child’s doctor to come up with
• a plan to control triggers inside your home. Teach your child how to avoid triggers outside your home.
• Make sure all the people who care for your child know your child’s triggers and how to control them.
• Talk to your child’s doctor if you have removed the triggers and your child’s asthma is not getting better.

Be sure to check out the mini series on asthma.

Physical activity can trigger symptoms in most people with asthma. Symptoms may occur either during or right after being active. But regular physical activity is good for all of us. In fact, doctors recommend that  most people, including people with asthma, get at least 30 minutes of moderate physical activity most days of the week.
The good news is that if you have good control of your asthma, exercise should not be a problem for you. In fact, most people with asthma should be able to participate in any physical activity they like without having asthma symptoms.

Here are some things you can do to prevent or reduce exercise-induced asthma:
• Ask your doctor about using a short-acting beta2-agonist inhaler about
15 minutes before exercise. This usually can prevent and control exercise induced
asthma. You can also use this medicine to relieve symptoms during
and after exercise. But remember to let your doctor know if you have to use
it often during or after exercise. It may be a sign that you need to start taking
daily long-term control medicine or to increase your dose.
Asthma and Exercise
Another way to monitor your symptoms is with a peak flow
meter. This is a hand-held device that shows how well air moves
out of your lungs. Measuring your peak flow can help you tell
how well your asthma is controlled. It can also alert you to an
oncoming attack hours or even days before you feel symptoms.
And during an attack, it can help tell you how bad the attack is
and if your medicine is working.
• Try warming-up for about 10 minutes before exercise. A long warmup may
help you handle continuous exercise without having to stop repeatedly to take
more medicine. Good ways to warm up include walking, doing flexibility exercises,
or trying other low-intensity activities.
• Try to avoid your other asthma triggers while exercising. For example, if cold,
dry air triggers your asthma, wear a scarf or cold air mask when exercising
outdoors in winter.
• If you have been having mild asthma symptoms, consider modifying the intensity
or length of the activity you do.
• Try exercising indoors when outside temperatures are extreme, or the ozone
level is high. The same is true if you are allergic, and the grass has recently
been mowed, or pollen counts are high.
• When first starting to be active, try increasing your level of activity gradually
over time.
Remember, asthma should not limit your participation or success in physical
activities—even vigorous activities like running for long periods of time or playing
basketball or soccer.

Acupuncture For Asthma

Acupuncture For Asthma: Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease of the airways. In the United States, asthma affects more than 22 million persons. It is one of the most common chronic diseases of childhood, affecting more than 6 million children .There have been important gains since the release of the first National Asthma Education and Prevention Program (NAEPP) clinical practice guidelines in 1991. For example, the number of deaths due to asthma has declined, even in the face of an increasing prevalence of the disease (NHIS 2005); fewer patients who have asthma report limitations to activities; and an increasing proportion of people who have asthma receive formal patient education (Department of Health and Human Services, Healthy People 2010 midcourse review).

Hospitalization rates have remained relatively stable over the last decade, with lower rates in some age groups but higher rates among young children 0–4 years of age. There is some indication that improved recognition of asthma among young children contributes to these rates. However, the burden of avoidable hospitalizations remains. Collectively, people who have asthma have more than 497,000 hospitalizations annually. Furthermore, ethnic and racial disparities in asthma burden persist, with significant impact on African American and Puerto Rican populations. The challenge remains to help all people who have asthma, particularly those at high risk, receive quality asthma care.

As far as using  Acupuncture for Asthma Treatment the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and the
National Asthma Education and Prevention Program  had this to say.

The Expert Panel does not recommend the use of acupuncture for the treatment of asthma (Evidence B). Acupuncture involves the superficial insertion of thin needles along acupuncture points or acupoints on the body. (Acupressure is an alternative method of stimulating the same acupoints.)

Two Cochrane database systematic reviews (Linde et al. 2000; McCarney et al. 2004) of 7 and 11 randomized trials (with 174 and 324 participants, respectively) using real acupuncture and sham acupuncture to treat asthma or asthma-like symptoms found no statistically significant or clinically relevant effects for acupuncture compared to sham acupuncture. Both reviews concluded that adequate evidence to make recommendations about the value of acupuncture in asthma treatment is lacking. A meta-analysis of 11 RCTs published in the period 1970–2000, comparing real acupuncture with placebo acupuncture, found no evidence of an effect of acupuncture in reducing asthma symptoms (Martin et al. 2002).

Acupuncture For Asthma.