Asthma – Partnering With Your Child’s Health Proffessional

By editor | August 23, 2007

The best advice is simple and straightforward: work with your child’s physician or nurse practitioner to review the pattern of illness that you have observed over the last six months. Ask yourself questions like these: How often do symptoms occur? What triggers the symptoms? How often do flares occur? It’s also helpful to keep a diary of symptoms, how long they last, what season or time of day they occur, how they were treated, how long it took to end the flare, etc.

From your observations, and in consultation with your child’s doctor or nurse practitioner, make a plan for controlling the environment and for adjusting asthma medicines for the next six months. Update and adjust the plan regularly. There is no one-size-fits-all answer here. Some children may need to see a doctor more frequently than every six months, while others may need to be seen less often. Only over time will you gain a clear idea of your individual child’s pattern of illness. It may improve with time or even seem to disappear. Long-term controller medicines are offered based on the pattern of illness, not on single episodes, so it’s important that you have a clear understanding of your child’s pattern.

Too many children see a medical professional only when they’re ill. But it’s important to make follow-up visits when your child is well. When you and your child go to a medical appointment, ask questions and expect information. This is especially important when a child is well because this is a good time to review how to recognize symptoms and gain assurance about how to treat them. Medicines can be decreased if your child is symptom-free and lung function is normal.

Lung-function testing during these healthy periods is important because it can confirm that a child is doing well, sometimes even after medicines are decreased or stopped. Silent problems may also be detected. Although a child seems symptom-free, there may be decreases in her lung function. Without this knowledge, appropriate medicines may not be given. Don’t fall into the trap of stopping your child’s asthma medicines because she “seems fine.” The child may be well because of the asthma medicines. Discuss all medicine changes with your physician or nurse practitioner first.

In the end, you will learn that your child is improving thanks to all your hard work in controlling the environment, recognizing symptoms, and providing medicine every day and during flares. You will continue to learn more about asthma and feel more assured about medicines and the use of your child’s asthma management plan.

All of us who treat children with asthma at The Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia hope that this book will be an important step in your understanding of asthma and will provide useful tools to control it. It is important for parents and older children to become active partners with their medical professionals. Continue to learn about asthma!


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