If you’ve recently been diagnosed with asthma and you’re struggling to understand what triggers an asthma attack, it’s time to find out what you can do to manage the disease. First you need to work out which type of asthma you have through your medical practitioner then you can learn about the best treatment options available.

Step you can take to keep your asthma under control

While there’s no cure for asthma, there are steps you can take to keep your asthma in control and prevent an attack. Through good asthma management, you can start to live your life again without fear of an asthma attack.

• Make regular appointments to see your medical practitioner
• Create an asthma management plan with your medical practitioner
• Assess and monitor your condition
• Watch out for symptoms such as a cough, tight feeling in your chest, wheezing, a limitation of and fatigue
• Understand your medication. There are a variety of medicines available to treat asthma and you can discuss which is best for you with your medical practitioner
• Reduce asthma triggers. Identify your asthma triggers and learn simple ways to limit your exposure or avoid them altogether
• Learn more about asthma and asthma management in general. This will enable you to feel more confident when self-managing your condition

What are asthma triggers?

Taking a closer look at asthma triggers, what they are and how they can be avoided will go a long way in helping you prevent an asthma attack. Triggers such as the below can be considered harmful:

• Air pollution
• Allergies
• Cold air
• A cold or flu virus
• Exercise
• Sinusitis
• Smoke
• Fragrance

The best way to determine which of these triggers affect your asthma is by keeping track of your symptoms in your own personal asthma diary. You can do this over the course of a few short weeks. When you have an asthma attack, check the diary to see which thing, or combination of things, might have led to it. If you’re still unsure and want to know more, ask your medical practitioner about tests to find the allergens you respond to.

How to allergy-proof your bedroom

In your own home, it becomes a lot easier to allergy-proof your room and prevent a future asthma attack. But when you are staying away from home, this becomes more difficult. There are a few things you can do to make your stay and public outings more comfortable:

• Don’t eat in restaurants that are smoky or allow cigarette smoking
• Reserve a smoke-free hotel room
• If you can, bring your own bedding and pillows in case the hotel only supplies feather pillows and down comforters. They can house dust mites and cause asthma symptoms

Next time you see your medical practitioner, ask for some more tips and tricks on asthma management.

Need more information on asthma management?

To ask more questions or to make an asthma management plan, make an appointment with your local medical practitioner at Drayton Street Family Practice. Located in Nanango Queensland, you may like to phone 07 4171 0711 to book an appointment today. You may also like to view additional services they offer online.