Each patient who has been diagnosed with asthma experiences their condition differently. If you have been diagnosed with asthma, your doctor will prescribe an asthma plan to keep your symptoms under control. Such plans generally contain information about the effects of asthma and how you can manage it. Whether you have allergic asthma or severe asthma, most are managed by using inhalers. While inhalers are effective in controlling symptoms, they become an issue when they are not used correctly. As a result, doctors recommend attaching an asthma spacer when using an inhaler, especially for young children but also for adults.

What is an Asthma Spacer?

An asthma spacer is a plastic tube that has a mouthpiece or mask on one end. The other end is where you attach your inhaler. When the medication from your inhaler is released, it moves into the spacer enabling you to inhale it at a slower rate. Whether your inhaler has a bronchodilator or corticosteroid, you can use this device to direct medication to where it's needed in the lungs.

5 Benefits of Using a Spacer for Asthma at Home

There are several advantages to using a spacer with your inhaler. Our top 5 reasons are discussed below.

Control the Medicine Intake

One of the main advantages of using an asthma spacer is it helps control your medication intake. It slows down the speed of the aerosol coming from the inhaler, meaning that medication is contained within the spacer. The controlled inhalation ensures that you are inhaling the prescribed dosage into your lungs rather than it getting stuck in the back of your throat.

Facilitate Better Inhalation

A spacer for asthma can come with masks that aid especially children or babies to get the right dose of medication. Simply attach the spacer to the inhaler and place the mask on their face to seal over their nose and mouth. Then, encourage them to breathe in and out. This requires no change in breathing at all or having to maneuver putting their mouth over the mouthpiece.

Relaxed Medication Intake

Asthmatics know that there are several steps required to use an inhaler properly. However, not all patients can master them. If you find yourself in this category of patients, we recommend seeking advice from your doctor on how to use an asthma spacer. 

Once fitted, the asthma spacer encourages a relaxed and comfortable way of inhaling your asthma medication. Some spacers even include a whistling sound to let you know you’re breathing in too fast or you’re breathing at the right pace! To ensure that you are inhaling the prescribed amount of medication, use an asthma spacer as it can be difficult to control your intake directly from an inhaler. 

Get the Maximum Benefit of Asthma Medication

In order for an asthma inhaler to be effective, the prescribed amount of asthma medication needs to reach your airways and lungs. However, using an inhaler alone doesn’t always ensure that. Thus, a spacer helps extend the amount of time it takes for the medication to enter the lungs, giving you the maximum benefit from the medication of your inhaler.

Note: There are several types of spacers. Be sure to seek medical advice as to what fits your inhaler and if you need to prime your new spacer before using it.

Less Side Effects

Using metered-dose inhalers is quite challenging. Many people have a hard time learning it, especially children. The result? Increased chances of experiencing side effects, such as a sore throat, dry mouth, or mild infections. If your child is an asthma sufferer, use an asthma spacer to ensure that the medication goes in their lungs with less ending up in their mouth and throat, which can lead to irritation and of course lack of effectiveness.

5 Tips in Using Asthma Spacers

To get you started, here are some tips on how to use your inhaler with a spacer:

1. Shake the inhaler and prime the spacer, if needed. (does not apply for anti-static spacers such as e-chamber) Wash the pieces about once a month with liquid dishwashing soap.
2. Avoid drying your spacer with a cloth. Instead, let it air dry. It may cause the medication to stick to the sides of the spacer and reduce effectiveness.
3. Let your child play with their spacer so they can get used to it before using it.
4. Breathe in from your asthma spacer as soon as you've sprayed a puff of medicine into it. If not, the medication will settle on the bottom and can no longer be inhaled.
5. If your inhaler contains steroids, wipe your face with a damp cloth and rinse your mouth with water or brush your teeth after the process. 

Asthma Spacers from Home Healthcare Online

As one of the leading professionals in the healthcare industry, we have seen the immense benefits of asthma spacers which is why we recommend its use. If you want above industry-standard, high-quality asthma spacers for you or your child, order from our website today! We sell e-chamber spacers which are anti-static and allow for the best chance of medication delivery compared to competitors. We have a lot of products available like cardiac monitoring Australia, lung health monitoring Australia and sleep therapy Australia.