Alternative medicine (1)
- Asthma treatment: Do complementary and alternative approaches work?
Causes (1)
- Allergies
Complications (1)
- Premature ventricular contractions (PVCs)
Definition (1)
- Allergies and asthma: They often occur together
Lifestyle and home remedies (2)
- Asthma in adults: Gain control with a written asthma plan
- Asthma-friendly products: Do they help reduce symptoms?
Risk factors (1)
- Secondhand smoke: Avoid dangers in the air you breathe
Symptoms (1)
- Symptom Checker
Tests and diagnosis (4)
- Asthma: Steps in testing and diagnosis
- Nitric oxide test for asthma
- Spirometry
- see all in Tests and diagnosis
Treatments and drugs (4)
- Asthma medications: Know your options
- Asthma treatment: 3 steps to better asthma control
- Asthma inhalers: Which one's right for you?
- see all in Treatments and drugs
Mayo Clinic Health Manager
Get free personalized health guidance for you and your family.
Get Started
About our e-newsletters
- Free e-newsletters
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- We do not share your e-mail address
Housecall, our weekly general-interest e-newsletter, keeps you up to date on a wide variety of health topics with timely, reliable, practical information, recipes, blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts and more. Our biweekly topic-specific e-newsletters also include blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts, and other useful information that will help you manage your health.
Housecall Archives
Mayo Clinic Housecall
Stay up to date on the latest health information.
What you get
- Free weekly e-newsletter
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- Recipes, tools and other helpful information
- We do not share your e-mail address
continued:
Asthma treatment: 3 steps to better asthma control
3. Adjust your treatment
By tracking your symptoms and following your asthma treatment plan, you can identify when you need to adjust your medications to prevent or treat an asthma flare-up.
- Quick-relief inhalers. Most people with asthma need to use quick-relief (rescue) inhalers from time to time. These inhalers contain a short-acting bronchodilator such as albuterol. They quickly open up your airways and make breathing easier. If you have mild asthma or asthma triggered by exercise, you may need to use your inhaler on a regular basis — especially before you exercise. Make sure you know how to use your inhaler properly. It won't keep your asthma under control if you don't use it correctly. When asthma symptoms are bad, you may need to use your quick-relief inhaler more often. Frequent use of a quick-relief inhaler to treat flare-ups is a sign of poorly controlled asthma.
- Long-term control medications. If you have persistent asthma, you will probably also need to take long-term control medications such as inhaled corticosteroids. These preventive medications treat the airway inflammation that causes asthma signs and symptoms. Taken on a daily basis, these medications can reduce or eliminate asthma flare-ups — and your need to use a quick-relief inhaler.
If you follow your asthma treatment plan, but you're still having bothersome symptoms, see your doctor. You may need to increase or change your medication. On the other hand, if your asthma is well controlled all the time, you may be able to reduce the amount of medication you take. This is known as the "stepwise" approach to asthma control. For some people with seasonal allergy triggers, medication may need to be "stepped up" or "stepped down" at certain times of the year.
Levels of asthma control
Even if you have severe asthma, the right treatment can minimize your symptoms. For most people, well-controlled asthma means few symptoms and no interference with normal activities, including sleep, work and school. If your asthma isn't well controlled, see your doctor. Use the chart below to help you determine if you're doing a good job of keeping your asthma under control.
Levels of asthma control in children over 12 and adults
| Well-controlled asthma | Poorly controlled asthma | Very poorly controlled asthma | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Symptoms | Two days a week or fewer | More than two days a week | Daily and throughout the night |
| Nighttime awakenings | Two times a month or fewer | One to three times a week | Four times a week or more |
|
Interference with normal daily activity |
None | Some limits | Extremely limiting |
| Quick-relief (rescue) inhaler use to control symptoms | Two days a week or fewer | More than two days a week | Several times a day |
| FEV or peak flow | More than 80% of your predicted personal best | 60% to 80% of your predicted personal best | Less than 60% of your predicted personal best |
(2 of 2)
- Joint Task Force on Practice Parameters, American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, et al. Attaining optimal asthma control: A practice parameter. Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. 2005;116(5):S3-S11.
- Balkissoon R. Asthma overview. Primary Care. 2008;35(1):41-60, vi.
- National Asthma Education and Prevention Program. Expert Panel Report 3 (EPR-3): Guidelines for the diagnosis and management of asthma-Summary Report 2007. Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. 2008;121(6):1330.
