Understanding Asthma Treatments

Without proper treatment and management, asthma can severely impact your life. Labored breathing, chest tightness, and chronic coughing are classic symptoms of asthma.

Treatments for asthma are continually being improved, and there are several treatments available today for patients with asthma. The goal of asthma treatment is to help you breathe better. There is no cure for asthma yet, but the latest treatments can help you live a normal life.

How Can Asthma Be Treated?

The first step is for the doctor to determine the type of asthma you have, at which point the physician can create an individualized treatment plan for you. There’s adult-onset asthma, allergic asthma, exercise-induced asthma, and occupational asthma, to name a few.

Commonly prescribed asthma treatments include rescue inhalers, control inhalers, biologics, and immunotherapy:

Inhaler Therapy

The delivery method for most types of asthma medicine comprises inhalers or puffers. You are probably already familiar with how an inhaler looks – a small aerosol canister with a mouthpiece attached to it. Inhaler treatment allows the medicine to go directly into your lungs and work immediately to open up the airways.

Rescue inhalers are short-acting and provide quick relief from an asthma attack. The effects of using a rescue inhaler can be felt within minutes.

Control inhalers are for maintenance medicine, and they have long-acting effects for patients with asthma. These inhalers contain medicine that works slowly, and it should not be used to relieve symptoms of an attack. Control inhalers usually contain steroids such as budesonide or fluticasone. Over time, maintenance medicine can help to reduce the frequency and severity of your asthma attacks.

Biologic Therapy

Patients with severe asthma symptoms (which are common in allergy-induced asthma) may be prescribed biologics. A biologic targets specific molecules in the body that drive the severe reaction.

At the time of this writing, there are five different types of biologics that are approved for asthma treatment. They are mostly administered in the doctor’s office via subcutaneous injection (under the skin) or as an intravenous infusion (in a vein). Dupixent may be administered at home after the first three doses are administered at a doctor’s office.

Immunotherapy

Allergy shots can provide long-term relief for patients with allergy-induced asthma. The doctor injects the patient with the allergens in order to build immunity from the allergen until the target dose is reached, after which the patient can move into the maintenance phase. A trained allergist can administer immunotherapy; it can only be done under the supervision of a physician.

Asthma Treatment in Will County and DuPage County

Early and consistent treatment for asthma can help prevent complications and frequent hospitalizations. If you or a loved one is exhibiting symptoms of asthma, our physicians at Oak Brook Allergists are here to help you.

We start with an asthma assessment to determine the type of asthma you have. From there, we will recommend the most suitable and most effective treatment. Our goal is to help you breathe better.

To schedule a consultation with an allergist, call (630) 574-0460 or fill out our appointment request form online now. We look forward to helping you take control of your asthma.