Make sure to take a preemptive dose of asthma medication and wear a scarf when going outside in the winter.
As most asthma sufferers know, winter can be one of the toughest times of the year for your lungs. What with the combination of cold, dry air, indoor allergens and the colds we all pass around in our homes and offices, it can be difficult to manage your asthma effectively throughout the season. Try some of these tips to mitigate your cold weather asthma symptoms:
- Avoid the fireplace: It can be best to just skip the whole sitting-around-the-fire aspect of the holidays when you have asthma, or at least to sit relatively far away from the flames. The smoke can be a lung irritant almost as severe as cigarette smoke.
- Breathe through your nose: Traveling through the nasal passages warms air up before it hits the lungs, leading to less of a shock and a smaller probability of asthma attacks.
- Exercise indoors: If you're going to be doing heavy physical activity and needing to breathe through your mouth, it's safest to do it inside where the air is room temperature.
- Take preventative measures: Before you head outside on particularly cold and dry days, it can be helpful to take a preemptive dose of your asthma medication to open up your airways and prevent an attack while in transit.
- Wash your hands: It may seem only distantly related to asthma management, but washing your hands will protect you against the colds and viruses that go around at this time of year, which can provoke or worsen asthma attacks.
- Wear a scarf outside: Wrapping a scarf around your mouth and nose helps to preserve at least some warmth and moisture in the air you breathe.
A good home air purifier can make your asthma symptoms easier to manage in the winter and year-round. For more information on air purifiers for asthma, contact US Air Purifiers today.