Children and asthma is a pretty rotten marriage. It’s bad enough for us parents to suffer – but when our kids hurt it’s almost intolerable. Still, it has to be dealt with. If your children only have mild asthma (the most common situation), as soon as their doctor confirms the diagnosis, you should develop the most important part of asthma child treatment – the asthma action plan which will alleviate the symptoms for children – most of them, anyway.
First, there are two pieces of advice:
Let your kid know what’s going on. She will be much less frightened if she understands what’s happening to her.
Share whatever treatment is necessary with everyone else who needs to know – teachers, babysitters, your children’s friends and relatives. This way in case of emergency everyone will know what to do. Asthma in children is a well-known health condition, but that doesn’t mean that everyone knows what to do about it, in the event that aid is needed. In fact, you can be certain that most people don’t have a clue!
The general issues are:
+ When and what long-term medications should be taken, if any …
+ What triggers should be avoided (you will probably be adding new entries to this section all the time) …
+ How often you should go with your child to see a doctor …
The children’s asthma “defense” plan:
+ How to know that the attack is beginning …
+ What to do during the attack …
+ Where to put medications …
+ Who to call in case of trouble …
When your child can’t breathe, you simply can’t waste time looking for the inhaler you forgot to put back on its place three months earlier.
The worst scenario:
The asthmatic child treatment action plan should also include the “worst scenario” actions like what to do if the situation doesn’t change for better after taking rescue drugs. Remember that acute attacks of child asthma may require hospitalization to fully recover and it is an imperative to know who to call and where to go if the worst occurs.
A sound plan is the best way to minimize children’s asthma. There is comfort in knowing what to do and the less stressed your sweetheart is, the less traumatic it will be.
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