Asthma and Children

To effectively treat your child's asthma and prevent asthma attacks you will likely need some asthma treatment tools, which can include an asthma action plan, peak flow meter, spacer, and a nebulizer.

Asthma inhalers are commonly used to both treat and prevent asthma and can include albuterol inhalers, steroid inhalers, and combination inhalers.

An asthma attack is a sudden worsening of your child's asthma. Symptoms of an asthma attack might include wheezing, chest tightness, coughing, trouble breathing, and a drop in your child's peak flows.

Peak flows are a good way to monitor how well your child's asthma is doing, and they may be a part of your child's asthma action plan. Using a peak flow meter (a small, portable device that your child blows in as hard as he can), you can measure his lung function.

Having an asthma action plan, which lists all of your child's medicines and when he should take them, can help you keep your child's asthma under good control.

Review the preferred treatments or steps for children who have persistent asthma symptoms, including the use of long-term controller medicines such as Singulair, Pulmicort Respules, Pulmicort Turbuhaler, Advair, or Symbicort.

Learn about common treatments for children with hard to control asthma symptoms, including the use of inhaled steroids, which are sometimes combined with other medications.

These photos of children using nebulizers, spacers, and inhalers, will help to demonstrate some of the treatment options available for kids with asthma.

Learn about specific asthma triggers that can trigger or cause an asthma attack, which you may be able to avoid to limit or prevent future asthma attacks.

Review the differences between controller and quick relief asthma medications to better understand which asthma treatment is best for your child in different situations, such as when he is having an asthma attack.

An MDI (metered dose inhaler) is a pressured canister that contains a child's asthma medicine.

A nebulizer, which is more commonly known as a "breathing machine" by parents, includes an air compressor to deliver an aerosolized breathing treatment to your child with asthma.

Asthma is a serious and potentially life threatening illness that affects many children. Learn the basics about asthma to help control and prevent your child's asthma attacks.

Submit your parenting tips for coping with common issues and problems related to parenting a child with asthma. Did you have a hard time getting your child diagnosed or getting your child to use his asthma medicines, etc.? What works for you?

Review when kids can and should have allergy testing done, including allergy skin tests or the RAST allergy blood test.

Review common asthma symptoms so that you can recognize if your child has asthma when he has a cough or wheezing.

Asthma is a common disease that affects children, with experts reporting that about 5% of people have asthma. Although often easy to diagnose if your child has a cough, wheezing, and trouble breathing, it can be much more difficult to diagnose if the child simply coughs a lot. Take our asthma screening quiz to see if your child has any of the symptoms of asthma:

Learn how to manage your child's asthma by learning to use a metered dose inhaler (MDI), spacer, nebulizer, and peak flow meter.

Check symptoms and treatment of asthma treatment in kids in the Asthma Treatment in Kids section of the About.com Symptom Checker

Asthma is a common, but sometimes underdiagnosed, condition in children. Symptoms include coughing, wheezing and trouble breathing, but symptoms can usually be easily controlled with proper asthma medications.

Review what might cause a child to have a grunting pattern of breathing, including asthma, other lung problem, or inhaling a foreign object, like a peanut.

An asthma action plan can help you recognize early warning signs, and how to act to prevent an asthma attack.

Easy step by step guide to help asthmatics correctly use a nebulizer to manage their asthma.

Step by step instructions for asthmatics using their inhalers with a spacer. An MDI with a spacer can be a good alternative to using a nebulizer, since it is faster and more portable.

American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology website, which includes Pediatric Asthma Guidelines, educational materials on treating allergic diseases, and a referral directory to find a specialist in your area to treat your child with asthma or allergies.

An online club to help kids manage their asthma.

Dr. Iannelli's Asthma Center for children, with information about action plans, prevention, peak flows, a symptom diary, and avoiding asthma triggers.

Resources to help you control your child's asthma, including how to help your child stay healthy at school.

Resources for parents of children with asthma, including message boards, online journals, action plans, and tips and hints to best manage your child's asthma.

Get the latest news, research and information about asthma.