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Asthma Management: What is a Flare-Up?
Asthma Management: What is a Flare-Up?When a person’s asthma symptoms are out of control, you may hear they had an asthma “attack,”“episode”, “exacerbation”, or “flare-up”. All of these words mean the same thing.Your body is reacting to a trigger in your environment that is causing changes in your airways.Your airways become inflamed and swollen. The muscles around the airways tighten and excessmucus forms. As a result, less air is able to travel in and out of your lungs.If these changes become severe you may need medications called rescue inhalers to help you tocatch your breath.Symptoms of a flare-up can include: uncontrollable coughing, wheezing, shortness of breath, ortightness or a burning sensation in your chest.You may have one or all of these symptoms. Symptoms of asthma can happen any time of day ornight.Regardless of the trigger, an asthma flare-up needs immediate attention.Take your rescue medication as prescribed and record it in your asthma diary. If you have an asthmaaction plan, these rescue medications should be listed in the yellow or red zone.Note where you were and what you were doing when your symptoms began.If your rescue medications do not get your asthma under control within 20 minutes, call 911 or go tothe nearest urgent care or emergency room.It’s important to understand what causes your flare-ups and know what to do when they happen.Talk to your healthcare provider about what you can to do to keep flare-ups under control.This program is for informational purposes only. Publisher disclaims all guarantees regarding the accuracy, completeness,or suitability of this video for medical decision making. For all health related issues please contact your healthcare provider.VER59158B EN AsthmaManagementWhatIsAFlareUp.pdf© The Wellness NetworkPage 1 of 1
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