5 Lifestyle Tips for Managing Asthma
With a few alterations in lifestyle, one can easily manage asthma and prevent exposure to factors that trigger asthma. These triggers tend to aggravate asthma symptoms, such as wheezing, breathlessness, and coughing. Though there is no cure for asthma, there are a few lifestyle tips for managing asthma that one can implement.
- Be aware of your triggers
Usually, an asthma attack is triggered by allergens like pollen, dust, mold, animals, smoke, cigarette, infections, such as flu or the common cold, and perfume. Further, in some people, occupational hazards, such as gases, fumes, dust, or exposure to dangerous chemicals, can trigger asthma. You need to know your primary triggers and avoid them.
- Keep your surroundings allergy-free
At your home, there are a bunch of things that you can do to make your surroundings allergy-free. This will reduce symptom flare-ups and chances of experiencing an attack. Therefore, avoid eating in restaurants that permit smoking. Before booking a hotel, enquire about pillows and bedding. If the hotel provides only down comforters and feather pillows, consider carrying your pillows and bedding, as feather pillows are prone to house dust mites, which can trigger an asthma attack.
- Do not avoid medications
A vital lifestyle tip for managing asthma is awareness of when and how prescribed medicines need to be taken. Many people are of the view that they can avoid medications if they are not experiencing symptoms. However, asthma is a long-term disorder, making medication a constant necessity. Therefore, even when there are no symptoms, you have to make a conscious effort to manage and prevent symptoms every day with medication. Take your prescribed medications and precautions, as mentioned by your doctor.
- Be physically active
Regardless of whether you have exercised-induced asthma or not, you cannot rule out exercise from your routine. Every patient with mild, moderate, or severe symptoms must exercise, and will surely see an improvement in the symptoms in a few months. Moreover, being overweight is one of the risk factors for asthma, making it important that you do not gain unhealthy weight.
- Quit smoking
If you have asthma, smoking is a strict no. Moreover, you should curtail your exposure to all sources of smoke, such as candles, tobacco, incense, fireworks, and fires. Further, it would be best if you did not let anyone smoke in your vicinity as that, too, can trigger an attack. Remember that smoking will only aggravate the attack.