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What Is a Nebulizer & Its Uses?

A nebulizer turns liquid medications into a mist that can be inhaled easily into the lungs. It is powered by a wall cord or batteries; some portable models plug into a car's lighter socket. A nebulizer is generally prescribed by a doctor for patients with asthma or other respiratory ailments.

  1. Compressor

    • The foundation of most nebulizers is an air compressor. This compressor works much like the air compressors used to force air into a car tire, but at a much lower air pressure. The compressor creates an air stream that shears liquid drugs into tiny droplets small enough to inhale.

    Types of Nebulizers

    • The most common nebulizer is the jet nebulizer, or small-volume nebulizer. Jet nebulizers comes in five varieties: pneumatic, valve or vented, breath-actuated, vibrating mesh and ultrasonic. Each uses a pressurized stream of air to break up liquid medicine into breathable droplets. Pneumatic nebulizers are the least expensive and least efficient. Vented nebulizers require the patient to breathe into the nebulizer when they breathe out. Breath-actuated nebulizers are new and only release medication if the patient is breathing in. Vibrating mesh and ultrasonic nebulizers do not have a compressors. They use sound or vibratory waves to atomize the medication.

    Diseases Treated with Nebulizers

    • Physicians commonly prescribe nebulizers for people with asthma or for young children and infants with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). A person with severe asthma may have a nebulizer on hand all of the time in case of outbreaks. Cystic fibrosis, pneumonia and pulmonary hypertension are also diseases that can be treated with medication inhaled through nebulizers. Some drugs are used only with a specific nebulizers and must be prescribed with the nebulizer; other drugs can be used with a variety of nebulizers.

    Nebulizer Advantages

    • Nebulizers are the device of choice for many pulmonary specialists because they are an easy way to deliver respiratory drugs directly to the lungs, where they are most needed. Alternatives to nebulizers for inhaled drugs are metered dose inhalers and dry powder inhalers. Both of these devices are smaller, hand-held units that are complex to use. Nebulizers, in contrast, are simple to use.

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