How to Make Homemade Spacer Devices for Asthma
Things You'll Need
- Thin steel wire about 12 inches long
- Cigarette lighter
- Clean, empty plastic drinking bottle
- Metered dose inhaler
Instructions
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How to Make a Homemade Spacer Device
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1
Ask your child's doctor for instruction on how to make a homemade spacer device. Great care must be must be taken when constructing a homemade asthma spacer to ensure that it works properly.
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2
Make a hole in the base of a 500 ml plastic cold-drink bottle where the MDI can be inserted. Plastic can be difficult to cut, leaving jagged edges that can hurt a child.So instead of cutting the hole, make a heated, molded steel wire which is the same diameter as the MDI mouthpiece. You can apply this to the base of the bottle to burn a hole instead of cutting.
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3
Shape a thin, steel wire around the mouthpiece of the MDI to make it the same size and diameter as the mouthpiece. Keep a section of the wire long enough to use as a handle to hold to make the hole. It should be long enough that you won't get burned when you heat the molded end of the wire.
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4
Heat the molded end of the steel wire with a cigarette lighter, grill lighter or small butane lighter that you can find in any hardware store. The mold should be heated until it is red hot.
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5
Apply the heated end of the wire against the bottom of the plastic drink bottle until it melts and burns through. This should leave a hole the side of the MDI mouthpiece. Once cool to the touch, remove the piece of plastic you've burned away.
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6
Insert the MDI mouthpiece into the hole after removing the plastic piece to create a tight fit.
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