The first step toward managing your asthma is a proper diagnosis. Depending on the severity of your asthma, you may work with a primary care provider, an allergist, or both. During the first visits, your doctor will take a medical history, do a physical examination, and test your lung capacity. These tools lay the groundwork for creating your personal asthma management plan. “Working With Your Health Care Provider.”
While your doctor is your partner, you have the most important job in managing your asthma. You can pay attention to and keep track of your asthma better than anyone else. Beginning an asthma management plan takes patience. You won’t feel better in just a day or a week. But stick with it, and you will find yourself breathing more easily than you have in years. What’s more, the quality of your life will improve.
After you are diagnosed with asthma, your first job is to notice your environment. Like most people with asthma, you probably realize you’re unusually sensitive to some substances. When you are exposed to these so-called “triggers,” your lungs overreact, and you get an asthma attack. Asthma triggers include allergens, or things that cause allergies, like dust mites, cockroach droppings, and animal hair; irritants in the air, like cigarette smoke; colds and other respiratory infections; exercise; and cold, dry air. The trick is to identify your personal triggers.
Allergens top the list of asthma triggers because allergies and asthma almost always go together. In both conditions, your body’s immune system overreacts to its environment, causing inflammation. When you are asthmatic, that inflammation occurs in your lungs. For up to 90 percent of people with asthma, an allergic reaction launches asthma attacks. You can take certain steps to remove asthma-causing allergens from your life.
