How to Treat Exercise Induced Asthma

If you have exercise-induce asthma, you've probably experienced wheezing, tightness in your chest, shortness of breath, coughing or extreme fatigue during exercise or sports. Your symptom can start up to 20 minutes after your activity. You don't have to avoid exercise or sports, however, just because you have asthma-unless your doctor instructs you to. Instead, you can manage your exercise-induced asthma.

Instructions

How to Treat Exercise Induced Asthma

• 1

  Use medication before you start your sports activity. Inhaled medications, such as albuterol, can prevent or control your asthma symptoms. Take your inhalant 20 minutes before your start a game or workout. The airways in your lungs should then remain clear for 4 to 6 hours. If you need a longer- acting inhaled medication, a bronchodilator like salmeterol can control your asthma symptoms for up to 12 hours. That means if you inhale the medication before school or work, you can participate in sports or workouts throughout the day. Make sure you have your short-acting inhaler with you just in case you need it.

• 2

  Perform stretches and other exercises to warm up before a workout or your sporting event. These stretches will help you prevent exercise-induced asthma and avoid muscle injuries. Do a cool-down following your activity. However, limit your warm-up, usual exercise routine or sports activities and cool-down exercises during certain times, such as when the weather is extremely cold. Also cut back when pollution or pollen levels are high. Limit exercises if you have an infection-especially if it's an upper respiratory infection.

• 3

  Choose sports that allow breaks. Baseball, wrestling or gymnastics have intermittent times of exertion with short times to rest, for example. Swimming is also a well-tolerated sport.