Use & Care of MDI
Using a metered dose inhaler (MDI) is a good way to take asthma medicines. There are few side effects because the medicine goes right to the lungs and not to other parts of the body. It takes only 5 to 10 minutes for the medicine to have an effect compared to oral asthma medicines, which can take 1 to 3 hours. Inhalers can easily be used by all asthma patients of age 5 and older. A spacer or holding chamber attached to the inhaler can help make taking the medicine easier for even younger children. The inhaler must be cleaned often to prevent buildup that will clog it and reduce its efficiency.
The guidelines that follow will help your patient to use the inhaler the right way. Ask your patient to do the following. Demonstrate the procedure yourself. Improper use of MDI is a major cause of non-response to treatment.
How to use MDI (advice for patient):
Step-1. Remove the cap and hold the inhaler upright.
Step-2. Shake the inhaler.
Step-3. Tilt your head back slightly and breathe out
Step-4. Use the inhaler in any one of these ways :
A. Open mouth with inhaler 1 to 2 inches away.
B. Use through spacer
C. Place the mouthpiece of the inhaler in between lips.
Step-5. Press down the inhaler to release the medicine and start to breathe in slowly.
Step-6. Breathe in slowly for 3 to 5 seconds.
Step-7. Hold your breath for 10 seconds to allow the medicine to reach deeply into your lungs.
Step-8. Repeat puffs as prescribed. Wait 1 minute between puffs.
Dry powder capsules are used differently. To use a dry powder inhaler (DPI), close your mouth tightly around the mouthpiece and inhale very fast.
Cleaning
Once a week remove the canister and wash the plastic actuator with mild dishwashing soap and warm water. Rinse and dry well before use.
Checking How Much Medicine is left in the Caniste
If the canister is new, it is full.
An easy way to check the amount of medicine left in a metered dose inhaler is to place the canister in a container of water and observe the position it takes in the water. The part of the canister above the water level is empty.
Topics:
A spacer or holding chamber is a device that attaches to a metered dose inhaler. It holds the medicine in its chamber long enough for the patient to inhale it in slow deep breaths. The spacer makes it easy to use the medicines the right way (especially if a child is young or patient can not coordinate between pressing the inhaler and breathing). A spacer helps prevent coughing while using an inhaler. It will also help protect the patient from getting a fungal infection in mouth (thrush) when taking inhaled corticosteroids.
What is step care management?
Step Care Management is like a staircase. We start treatment at the appropriate step. Then we shall step up along the stairs if asthma is not controlled or becomes more severe and shall step down when patient's asthma is fully controlled for 3 months or more.
We have divided the asthma management plan into five steps. At first, we should understand basic principles of five steps. Then we can construct any step by combining available drugs.
Basic Principles of Step Care Management
A nebulizer is a device driven by a compressed air machine. It allows your patient to take asthma medicine in the form of a mist (wet aerosol). It consists of a cup, a mouthpiece attached to a T-shaped part or a mask, and thin plastic tubing to connect to the compressed air machine. It is used mostly by three types of patients:
- Young children under age 5.
- Patients who have problems using metered dose inhalers.
- Patients with severe asthma
A nebulizer helps make sure that patients get the required amount of medicine
Why management at home ?
Since asthma is a chronic disease, it can be and should be managed at home up to a certain level. If home management plan is applied intelligently and skillfully, most asthmatics can lead symptom free normal life, avoid hospitalization thereby cutting down the financial expenditure significantly. All patients of asthma, except those with acute exacerbation, should be treated at home.
What are the components of home management plan ?
Do I have to use my preventer inhaler all the time, even when I am well?
Pitfalls of Asthma Management - Incorrect diagnosis, Inappropriate management plan, Inadequate education, Improper inhalation technique
There are some common concerns about Asthma prevailing in the society. In majority of cases, these are misconceptions or baseless fears. For optimum control of asthma, these points should be dealt with proper care. Otherwise the management plan may go in vain. It the physicians responsibility to eradicate such worries, if present, from the patient’s mind. Some common concerns and suggested clinicians responses are listed below. Model answers to some frequently asked questions (FAQs) are also given. These will help the physician to deal with such situations more confidently.
Comments
Post new comment