Introduction
Having an asthma attack seems to be a difficult situation to manage for an individual. It might feel as if someone is sitting on the chest. You may suffer from chest tightness along with breathing difficulty. Why does it happen like this? Read below.
What Is an Acute Asthma Attack?
An acute asthma attack occurs when the muscles around the bronchial tubes constrict, further narrowing the airways and making breathing difficult. How long asthma lasts may vary from person to person. A mild asthma attack lasts for a few minutes, while a severe one lasts for hours or days with on-and-off symptoms. The length of an asthma attack depends on how severe the inflammation is and how well you respond to treatment. Without treatment, attacks continue, become worse, and become fatal.
What Are the Early Warning Signs of Severe Asthma?
Asthma attacks begin with subtle symptoms that you may notice before more intense asthma symptoms develop. Recognizing early warning signs of severe asthma and taking action prevents the development of full-blown asthma attacks. An asthma attack's early signs and symptoms are increased mucus production in the airways, runny nose, fatigue, itchy chin, inability to take a deep breath, persistent cough, and tickling in the throat. In mild to moderate asthma attacks, you may experience wheezing, chest tightness, worsening cough at night, shortness of breath, retractions, and neck tightness. In a severe asthma attack, symptoms like severe shortness of breath, rapid breathing, heavy chest pain, retractions with the skin around the neck, a bluish tint in the lips and fingernails, and drowsiness are experienced.
What Is the Emergency Treatment for Acute Asthma?
If you go to the emergency room for an asthma attack, there are some emergency treatments for asthma to restore regular breathing.
Treatments include,
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Oxygen - When low oxygen levels in the blood are observed, oxygen is given through a tube attached to the nose.
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Quick Relief Medicines - Quick-relief medicines like Albuterol and Levalbuterol are given with an inhaler or a nebulizer to open the airways.
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Ipratropium - Ipratropium is a drug used to open airways, often inhaled with an inhaler or nebulizer.
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Corticosteroids - Taking corticosteroids helps treat inflammation.
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Mechanical Ventilation - When an asthma attack seems life-threatening, a machine is used to help you breathe to get some extra oxygen. This is given with a breathing mask. In a few cases, a tube is placed down the throat and windpipe, which is known as intubation.
What Are the First Aid Steps for Asthma Attacks?
Call the ambulance immediately if a person is not breathing, a person’s asthma becomes worse, a person is having an asthma attack and a reliever is not available, if you are not sure it is asthma, or if a person is having anaphylaxis. Follow the anaphylaxis action plan. Giving asthma first aid with blue or gray reliever medication does not cause any harm, even if the person does not have asthma.
The following four steps are used as first aid steps for asthma attacks.
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Make the person sit upright. Stay calm and be reassuring. Avoid leaving them alone.
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Try to give four separate puffs of the blue or gray reliever puffer. Shake the puffer and try to put one puff into the spacer. Make the person breathe four puffs from the spacer. Repeat the procedure until four puffs have been taken.
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If there is not much improvement, give four separate puffs of blue or grey reliever again.
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If the breathing does not improve, call an ambulance. Keep giving four separate puffs every four minutes until emergency assistance is received.
What Are the Medications Used in Emergency Asthma Treatment?
The type and dose of asthma medication used depend on the patient's age, symptoms, severity of asthma, and side effects.
Types of Asthma Medications
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Quick Relief Medications—These asthma medications are also called beta-agonists. They open the lungs by relaxing the airway muscles. They start to work within minutes and remain effective for six hours. Quick-relief medications include Albuterol and Levalbuterol.
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Oral Corticosteroids—These medications are taken for a limited period of time to treat asthma. Examples are Prednisone and Methylprednisone.
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Ipratropium and Theophylline - Ipratropium, a short-acting bronchodilator, is combined with Albuterol to treat asthma. Theophylline is used in pill form to treat asthma.
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Long-Term Asthma Control Medications - Many people with asthma need long-term asthma control medications even though they do not show any symptoms. The several types of long-term control medications are,
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Inhaled Corticosteroids - These drugs effectively reduce swelling and inflammation in the airways. This includes Budesonide, Fluticasone, Mometasone, Beclometasone.
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Leukotriene Modifiers - It hinder the effects of leukotrienes, which are immune system chemicals that cause asthma symptoms. The examples are Montelukast, Zafirlukast, and Zileuton.
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Long-acting beta Agonists (LABAs) - These medications reduce swelling and open airways. The commonly used medications are Salmeterol and Formoterol.
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Long-Acting Muscarinic Antagonists (LAMAs) - If an LABA cannot be used, a LAMA can be used along with an inhaled corticosteroid.
What Is the Hospital Management of Acute Asthma?
A person needs hospitalization when having an asthma attack that shows shortness of breath that affects walking and speaking, rapid breathing, a bluish face, lips, or nails, and difficulty in inhaling or exhaling. An acute severe attack requires a hospital stay of four to six days. To get discharged from the hospital, a person needs to walk without shortness of breath and be able to sleep the whole night without any new symptoms developing. Some people experiencing severe attacks require a breathing tube to pump oxygen into the lungs.
How to Prevent Future Asthma Attacks?
The key way to prevent future asthma attacks is to avoid asthma triggers and keep asthma under control.
To prevent asthma attacks, you can
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Avoid Triggers - Try to limit and avoid exposure to triggers that worsen asthma symptoms. Maintaining a journal or list of allergens, weather events, and activities that triggersymptoms can help you identify and avoid the triggers.
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Follow the Treatment Plan - Take asthma medications as the doctor advises to reduce airway inflammation and avoid flare-ups.
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Use a Peak Flow Meter - Monitoring airway inflammation using an at-home peak flow meter can alert you to worsening inflammation in your airways and help you to identify when to use quick-relief inhalers before the symptoms develop.
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Managing Stress - Stress can make asthma symptoms worse and trigger new asthma attacks. Practicing stress management techniques helps to manage stress and reduce the risk of developing stress-induced asthma attacks.
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Doing Regular Exercise - Lung function improves by doing regular physical activity. It is good to do low-intensity activities when heavy workouts increase asthma symptoms.
Conclusion
An asthma attack occurs due to the exacerbation of asthma symptoms, causing breathing difficulty in affected people from the triggering agents present in the environment. When there is a need to go to the emergency room for an asthma attack, there are some emergency treatments given for asthma to restore regular breathing. Emergency treatments include oxygen, corticosteroids, quick-relief medications, and mechanical ventilation. The type and dose of asthma medication depend on age, symptoms, severity, and side effects. A person needs hospitalization when having an asthma attack that shows shortness of breath that affects walking and speaking, rapid breathing, a bluish face, lips, or nails, and difficulty in inhaling or exhaling. The key way to prevent future asthma attacks is to avoid asthma triggers and keep asthma under control.
Key Takeaway/Note From Icliniq
Nowadays, asthma is becoming prevalent due to various environmental triggers. Children, adults, and elderly people are affected by asthma equally. The doctors at icliniq.com are very specialized in treating asthma patients. In case of any need, contacting them through online consultation helps to manage an asthma emergency as soon as possible, whether through queries or audio or video consultations.
