Asthma Basics for Kids

Stuff you really need to know to take care of your asthma.

Just the facts

  • With your doctor or asthma educator and parents, make an asthma action plan that fits your life.
  • Know your triggers and avoid them.
  • Take your asthma medicines at the right times, take the right amount and take them the right way.
  • Keep your quick-relief inhaler with you, and use it when you need it. There is a law in Michigan that allows students to carry their asthma inhalers with them as long as they have permission from their doctor and parent. Learn about the asthma inhaler law.
  • Watch for early warning signs of an asthma attack, and get help if you need it.

What is Asthma?

Asthma is a lifelong, or chronic, lung disease that makes your lungs “twitchy,” or more sensitive, than other people’s. Asthma is with you every day, even if you don’t have symptoms. Sensitive airways can react to different things, called triggers. Once your asthma is “triggered,” the airways get inflamed or swollen, and the muscles around the airways tighten, making breathing hard.

Is Asthma a Serious Disease?

Asthma is a serious disease, and can kill if it is not treated the right way. When it is treated right, people with asthma can live normal, active lives.

What are the Symptoms of Asthma?

There are early warning signs that can sometimes clue you in that an asthma attack is coming. Check to see if you can spot your warning signs. Not all people with asthma have the same symptoms. The most common symptoms of asthma are:

  • Cough, especially if it lasts more than a week, or happens during the night or after exercise
  • Shortness of breath (trouble catching your breath)
  • Chest “tightness” (your chest feels “heavy” or painful)
  • Wheezing (noisy breathing or a whistling sound when you breathe)
  • When you have a cold, it lasts for more than 10 days, and goes into your chest

Who Gets Asthma?

Anyone can get asthma, at any age. Sometimes it starts as a baby, other times it starts later in childhood or in the teen years. Although some kids seem to “outgrow” asthma, the symptoms can return years later. Some people start having asthma symptoms after a bad cold or flu.

What is an Asthma Attack?

An asthma attack is a time when you have more or worse asthma symptoms. The symptoms can be mild or severe. Anyone can have a severe attack, even a person with mild asthma. The attack can start slow or fast. Sometimes a mild attack will seem to go away, but will come back a few hours later. This second attack may be much worse than the first. Severe asthma symptoms mean a severe attack – if you have severe symptoms, take your rescue medication or call the doctor or 911 right away.

When you are having an asthma attack you feel like you can’t breathe, and it’s pretty scary! That is because, during an asthma attack the lining of the airways in the lungs swells. The airways make a thick mucus. The muscles around the airways tighten and make the airways narrower. All of these changes in the lungs block the flow of air, making it hard to breathe. Knowing what is happening in the lungs during an asthma attack will help you to know why it often takes more than one medicine to keep your asthma under control.

What should you do during an asthma attack?

Follow your asthma action plan! Having a plan written down that tells you how to handle any asthma symptoms can be a big help and will make you feel like you can handle your asthma. If you don’t have an Asthma Action Plan, tell your parents about it and GET ONE!

Along with following the asthma action plan, here are some other helpful hints:

  1. Stay calm, try to relax. It isn’t easy! But the more youpanic, the worse your breathing will get.
  2. Tell any adult. If there aren’t any adults around tell another kid to tell an adult. Whoever is around – teacher, coach, parent, will be able to help you, or get you help, if you need it. Don’t try to tough it out alone!
  3. Take the quick-relief medication as your Asthma Action Plan tells you to. Not sure which medication is the quick-relief one? Ask your parents, doctor, asthma educator, or pharmacist about it before you need it in an emergency!
  4. If the quick-relief medicine hasn’t helped in 5-10 minutes, call the doctor or 911.
  5. Keep taking the quick-relief medicine every 5-10 minutes until the ambulance arrives.
  6. Never change how much or which of your asthma medications you take unless your doctor has written it in your Asthma Action Plan or told you to do so over the phone.

What Can You Expect from Your Asthma Treatment?

With proper treatment for your asthma, you should be able to:

  • Stay active without having asthma symptoms (this includes exercising and playing sports)
  • Reduce or even prevent asthma symptoms
  • Keep up your day-to-day activities
  • No missed school because of asthma
  • No or little need to go to the emergency department or hospital
  • Sleep through the night without having asthma symptoms
  • Have no or very few side effects from asthma medicines

If you are still having asthma symptoms, even after you take your asthma medicines, talk to your doctor or asthma educator. They can work with you to help you breathe well all the time.

How Is Asthma Controlled?

There are two good ways to treat and control asthma:

1. Keep asthma symptoms from starting

You will need to find out what triggers your asthma symptoms. Once you know your triggers, you can stay away from them to help keep an asthma attack from starting. Be open and honest with your doctor about your life. If he doesn’t know that you like to play soccer with your friends after school, he can’t help you prevent asthma attacks triggered by running.

  • Your doctor may want you to take:
    Medicines that keep the airways from becoming swollen (called long-term controllers). These medicines need to be taken regularly, even when you’re feeling good.
  • Medicines that help you breathe better fast (called quick-relief medicines) which may also be taken to keep an asthma attack from happening when you know you’re around one of your triggers. You should keep this kind of medicine with you at all times, even at school.

You may need to take one or both types of medicines to keep your asthma under control. Your Asthma Action Plan will tell you when and how much to take of any asthma medicine.

2. Stopping symptoms or asthma attacks after they have started

  • You need to learn to watch your body for the early warning signs that can tell you that you may start having trouble with your asthma. You need to take care of the mild symptoms or warning signs of asthma to keep them from turning into a severe attack.
  • If you are having symptoms, your Asthma Action Plan will tell you what to do. Your plan will likely tell you to take quick-relief medicines that help you breathe better fast. Be sure to keep your quick-relief medicine handy. Get help right away if your symptoms do not get better or get worse after you take your medicine.

Adapted from “Your Asthma Can Be Controlled: Expect Nothing Less,” National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, NIH Publication No. 92-2664, 1992.