Asthma Treatments
Self-help for asthma involves recognizing your asthma triggering factors and avoiding them. Allergy testing is frequently used to help identify asthma triggers too.
Medical treatment for asthma consists of two parts: short-term control during an attack, and long-term control to prevent attacks.
Numerous aerosol bronchodilators (to increase the volume of air that can travel through the lungs) are available in inhaler form for treating individual attacks. Oral or intravenous corticosteroids (to minimize the swelling of muscles around the bronchioles) may also be prescribed to deal with sever attacks.
Many long-term treatments are now available too. These range from long-acting bronchodilators to inhaled corticosteroids to leoukotriene inhibitors (to minimize the inflammatory allergic reactions to some triggers) and beyond.
Discuss treatments with your doctor to develop the best asthma control strategy for you.