Thursday, January 28, 2010

Help Children Cope With Asthma Attacks

It's not easy to guard a child from an asthma attack, as there are many things that can trigger such an attack. The attacks sometimes come unannounced, and they appear to be painful to the child. The most prudent thing you can do is pay attention to what makes an attack come over a child. Have all the necessary supplies ready for when the attack happens. Being there for the child and being supportive of the child helps as much as anything.


Instructions


1. Keep an inhaler with you at all times. If your child is responsible enough to handle it himself, make sure he has one at all times.


2. Monitor the results of the inhaler your child is using. It may be a good idea to increase the dosage to accommodate a more serious condition. Talk with your child's pediatrician about the possibility of increasing the dosage if needed.


3. Talk with the children about their concerns regarding their asthma attacks. Let them get their feelings out. They might feel inadequate or that there's something major wrong with them, because other children their ages don't have asthma attacks. Reassuring children that they are normal children--yet simply have a medical condition that they may outgrow--can help children cope with asthma attacks greatly.


4. Help the children by teaching them responsibility. Talk with the children about how people need to take care of themselves so they feel well and are healthy. Tell the children that by taking their asthma medication, they are taking responsibility for their own health. Taking this kind of responsibility is an important quality for a young person to have.


5. Keep pet dander in your house to a minimum. This is a leading cause of asthma attacks.


6. Clean and dust your house often. Eliminating airborne contaminants can help to reduce attacks of all sorts.








7. Keep the home and school smoke free. Don't allow there to be smoking around your house, car or any area where your asthmatic child spends any substantial amount of time.


8. Install a good air conditioner and air purifier in places where the child goes. This can go a long way to helping get rid of asthma attacks in the house.

Tags: asthma attacks, Talk with, your child, your house, asthma attacks, children about, children that