Asthma – Breathing Easier • Goals – Knowing what it is – Knowing how to breathe easier – Knowing how to prevent it
Asthma Asthma is when you have times when you cannot breathe. On the inside, your lungs become “blocked� from letting air go in and out. The result is you gasping for air. There is no cure for asthma, but medication can help it. (CDC, 2013)
Breathing Easier • Medications – Pills or Inhalers • Work as a team to calm you down. • Less swelling of lungs makes it easier to breathe again. • More air going in and out. • May be used in an emergency.
– Mist therapy • Used at home to make it easier to breathe. • Can be used only when you need it. (Cox & Taylor, 2005).
How to prevent it • Using your medications when you need it. • Using your medications the right way. • Asking your parents for help • Finding out what things cause breathing to be harder. • Staying away from things that cause breathing to be harder. (Cox & Taylor, 2005).
What you can do! • Learn the names of your medicine and what they do. • Teach your parents the same information and show them how smart you are! • Help them find things that make it harder to breathe. • Write in a journal of the times it was harder to breathe. (Cox & Taylor, 2005).
Questions? • Am I the only one who has asthma? – No, asthma is very common for children your age.
• What if I can’t do the same things as my friends? – Asthma may cause you to be more tired. It is important to listen to your body and to not force yourself to do anything more than you can handle.
Questions? • What if my friends make fun of me? – Your friends should know why you need medicine, but should not make fun of you for using it. – Talk to them!
References • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2013). Asthma Facts – CDC’s National Asthma Control Program Grantees. Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. • Cox, K., & Taylor, S. (2005). Orem’s self-care deficit theory: Pediatric asthma as exemplar. Nursing Science Quarterly, 18( 3), 249-257, doi: 10.1177/089431840527752.