With the long winter behind us and Minnesota’s summer shining, families tend to spend more time outdoors. For kids with asthma, that often means battling allergies.
While there is no cure for asthma, there are ways to learn to manage it. Here are four easy tips for your summer:
- Answer these four questions regularly to find out if your child’s asthma is under control. If you answer yes to any of the questions in the questionnaire, your child’s asthma may not be under control. The next step would be to contact your primary or specialty care clinic.
- Decrease allergy exposure. As a parent, paying attention to pollen counts is important when your child wants to play outside. Other ways to help decrease your child’s allergy exposure are: Keep doors and windows closed, shower nightly after being outside and avoid being outside on windy days from midmorning to midafternoon. Learn more about managing allergies here.
- Keep your home trigger free. A few at-home triggers of asthma are: Smoke, dust mites, mold, cockroaches and mice. Avoiding these triggers can help decrease your child’s asthma episodes. Here are additional ways to help you avoid asthma triggers in your home.
- Keep refills up to date. Making sure your child’s refills for controller and rescue medications are up to date is important.
You can also stay prepared this summer with an asthma control checklist:
- Make an appointment with your nurse practitioner or doctor for an asthma check-up to be sure your child’s asthma is under control.
- Get an updated asthma action plan (signed by you and your doctor/nurse practitioner) to give to your school’s health aide or nurse once school starts.
- Get a second rescue inhaler (albuterol) to use while outside.
Kaitlyn Kamleiter