How does asthma attacks occur

You can also get in touch with us — we would love to hear from you! What is an asthma attack? Symptoms of an asthma attack Symptoms of an asthma attack include: Difficulty breathing Shortness of breath Wheezing Coughing A feeling of pressure or tightness in your chest Difficulty talking Getting no relief from using your normal blue reliever inhaler Going pale in colour, sometimes with blue lips or fingernails. What to do when having an asthma attack?

Sit upright in a comfortable position do not lie down and loosen any tight clothing. Leaning forward slightly or sitting backwards on a chair may help your breathing. Breathe slowly and deeply. If you do have your reliever inhaler usually blue , take one puff every seconds up to a maximum of 10 puffs.

If you have a spacer device to hand, use that to administer the inhaler, as it can help the medicine get into your airways more efficiently. Stay as calm as you can, as panic and anxiety can make your symptoms worse.

In the case of adults, symptoms can include: A feeling of tightness or pressure in your chest Tightened neck or chest muscles, which cause the skin and soft tissue in your chest wall to skin in — this is called a chest retraction Feeling fatigued, nervous or edgy — this can be an early warning sign of an impending asthma attack.

Symptoms in children In young children it can sometimes be hard to identify signs and symptoms of asthma. Some children may also say their tummy or chest aches. Symptoms after an asthma attack How you feel after an asthma attack will depend on how severe the attack was and what triggered it. How do you stop an asthma attack without an inhaler? How long do asthma attacks last? This makes the airways much skinnier than usual so it is harder to move air in and out of the air sacs.

This makes it hard to breathe! The picture below shows what your lungs would look like during an asthma attack. What Happens in an Asthma Attack? During an asthma attack, it is harder and takes much longer to breathe out expire or exhale than to breathe in inspire or inhale. The animation below shows breathing during an asthma attack. Notice that the airways are narrowed skinny , so less air can move in and out of the lungs. This is because they relieve symptoms of breathlessness, and the inhalers are usually blue in colour.

Although they relieve breathlessness, they do not prevent the breathlessness from happening. Salmeterol works in a similar way to salbutamol but its effects last for about 12 hours. Steroids such as beclometasone work by reducing the inflammation in your airways.

When the inflammation has gone, your airways are much less likely to become narrow and cause symptoms such as wheezing. For asthma, steroids are usually prescribed in inhaler form. Although they have no effect during acute asthma attacks, when taken regularly usually twice daily they are the inhalers that will stop the attacks from happening.

They are usually brown in colour and are known as 'preventer' or 'brown' inhalers. Occasionally, for severe asthma, steroids are prescribed in tablet form. If your asthma stabilises on steroid and bronchodilator inhalers your doctor may prescribe a combination inhaler to take regularly which contains both medicines. Antileukotrienes such as montelukast act by blocking the action of leukotriene. Leukotriene is produced when people with asthma come into contact with trigger factors such as substances they are allergic to such as pollen , or exercise.

Leukotriene causes the lining of the bronchioles to become inflamed and swollen and antileukotrienes help to prevent this. Not every person with asthma gets a significant rise in leukotriene production during an attack, which is why antileukotrienes are usually kept in reserve for asthma which does not respond to standard bronchodilator and steroid therapy.

Omalizumab is a medicine that is only given by injection. It works by interfering with the immune system to reduce inflammation in the airways which is present in asthma. Skip directly to site content Skip directly to page options Skip directly to A-Z link. Section Navigation. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Syndicate. Learn How To Control Asthma. Minus Related Pages. What Is an Asthma Attack? What Causes an Asthma Attack?

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