Help Your Child or Teenager Control Their Severe Asthma

Welcome

Asthma can be challenging to manage in children and teenagers. While it can’t be cured, it can be controlled. This tool helps you and your child talk with your allergist to decide what treatments will help your child best manage their severe asthma. If you are a pre-teen or older, you can use this tool either on your own or with a parent so you can fully participate when you talk to your allergist about what asthma treatment will work best for you.

The tool is easy to use:

• Read about different treatment options.
• Respond to a few simple statements based on your child’s temperament and preferences.
• Print out your answers and bring them to your child’s next appointment.

Let’s get started! Because treatment varies by age, first, click on your child’s age:

About Severe Asthma

If your child has asthma, he or she is not alone. More than 6 million children and teenagers in the United States have asthma, meaning the tubes in their lungs become easily inflamed and close down when exposed to certain triggers like inhaling pollen or catching a cold or other respiratory infection. Asthma may make it hard for your child to breathe, which can be frightening. Or your child may have a cough that just won’t go away or be unable to fully participate in activities. If that is happening often, your child may have severe, uncontrolled asthma. Factors that can worsen asthma include indoor or outdoor allergens, cigarette smoke, air pollution, respiratory viruses and weather changes.

While there is no cure, there are many therapies that are effective. But it is very important that your child uses medications as directed so he or she can go to school, participate in activities and get a good night’s sleep (which will help you be well-rested and avoid missing work, too). However, if your child uses asthma treatment as directed and has one or more of the following symptoms, it may be time to consider more advanced therapy:

• Needs asthma quick relief medications (such as albuterol) two or more times a week
• Wakes at night coughing and wheezing
• Frequently coughs and/or wheezes during the day
• Has recently used oral steroid pills or liquids
• Has recently visited the emergency room or been hospitalized

Your allergist will help you find an advanced treatment that will work best for your child.

If your child or teenager has asthma, he or she is not alone. More than 6 million children and teenagers in the United States have asthma, meaning the tubes in their lungs become inflamed and close down when exposed to certain triggers like inhaling pollen or catching a cold or other respiratory infection. Asthma may make it hard for your child or teenager to breathe, which can be frightening. Or your child or teenager may have a cough that just won’t go away or they may be unable to fully participate in activities. If that is happening often, your child may have severe, uncontrolled asthma. Factors that can worsen asthma include indoor or outdoor allergens, cigarette smoke, air pollution, respiratory viruses and weather changes.

While there is no cure, there are many therapies that are effective. It is very important that your child or teenager use medications as directed so he or she can go to school, participate in activities and get a good night’s sleep (which will help you be well-rested and avoid missing work, too). However, if your child or teenager uses their asthma treatment as directed and has one or more of the following symptoms, it may be time to consider more advanced therapy:

• Needs asthma quick relief medications (short-acting beta agonists such as albuterol) two or more times a week
• Wakes at night coughing or wheezing
• Frequently coughs and/or wheezes during the day
• Symptoms interfere with daily activities
• Has recently used oral steroid pills
• Has recently visited the emergency room or been hospitalized

Your allergist will help you find an advanced treatment that will work best for your child or teenager.

There are three treatment options for children age 0-5 whose asthma is severe and uncontrolled. They typically involve adding extra medication to the inhaled steroids (ICS) your child may already use.

This chart explains more about these treatments.

There are several treatment options for children 6 and older whose asthma is severe and uncontrolled. All involve adding extra medication to the inhaled steroids (ICS) and other controllers (such as long-acting beta agonists (LABA) and leukotriene receptor antagonists (LTRA)) your child already uses.

This chart explains more about these treatments.

The next step is to talk about these treatments with your child’s allergist. To help you figure out what might work best for your child, answer the following statements, choosing Yes or No. If you are a preteen or older and have asthma, you can answer these questions on your own, or work with a parent to respond.

All done!

It’s time to take control of your child’s asthma so they can start enjoying life again. It’s time to find an allergist.

Print out your answers and bring them to your child’s next appointment with the allergist.