Your doctor will:

• Ask about your breathing problems.
• Give you a checkup.
• Give you one or more breathing tests.

You may be tested before and after taking medicine to find out if the medicine helps.

With asthma treatment, you should be able to live a normal, active life. You will probably need to:

• Take medicine.
• Stay away from things that make it hard for you to breathe.

There are two main kinds of medicines for asthma:

• Quick-acting medicines called bronchodilators relax the muscles in the airways and let more air move in and out. This medicine can be used to treat asthma attacks. These medicines are sometimes called rescue medicines because they act fast.
• Preventive medicines help make the airways swell less. These preventive drugs cannot be used to stop attacks once they start. Instead they are taken every day to prevent asthma attacks.

Both these kinds of medicines can be used as:

• An inhaler so you can breathe in the medicine through your mouth.
• A pill that you swallow.

Your healthcare provider will tell you what will work best for you.

• You will probably need a quick-acting inhaler for asthma attacks.
• You may need to take preventive medicine every day as well.

Be sure you know how to use your inhaler the right way.

• Ask your healthcare provider to show you how to use the inhaler.
• Most inhalers work best if you hold them 1 to 2 inches in front of your mouth when you spray.

It may help to use a spacer tube.

• Put one end of the spacer in your mouth.
• Attach the inhaler to the other end.
• Spray and then breathe in slowly and fully.

You will breathe in more asthma medicine this way.
Ask your pharmacist how you can tell when your inhaler is empty.
You may need to check how well you are breathing.

• Your healthcare provider may prescribe a peak flow meter.
• You blow into the peak flow meter to see how well you are breathing.
• The peak flow meter will help you know when your asthma is getting worse and when you should take more medicine to keep from having severe asthma attacks.