While inhalers prescribed for the treatment of acute asthma attacks seem like a simple enough device to use, even for children, they are often not used properly which may give parents the impression that the medication is ineffective, the device is malfunctioning, or even that their child has been misdiagnosed.
Medications prescribed for asthma, the most common being Albuterol, are often administered as two quick puffs in the mouth followed by the patient immediately exhaling the medication. Since asthmatic symptoms are caused by the small bronchioles in the lungs constricting and limiting air low, exhaling the medication prematurely will not provide the drug enough time to effectively reach deep into the lungs and reverse the asthma attack.
To properly administer the drug, it should first be shaken well. Your child should then be instructed to take a deep breath out, insert the inhaler into his or her mouth, depress the canister, inhale all the medication in one breath, and hold his or her breath for as long as he or she comfortably can for a maximum of ten seconds.
If it becomes easier for the child to breath after the first puff of the inhaler, one more dosage can be given directly after the first one. If the symptoms have still not improved after two dosages, you must wait at least five minutes before administering the inhaler again. This can be done up to a total of three times. If after three times the child is still experiencing shortness of breath, he or she should be taken to the emergency room as soon as possible, as respiratory distress is a very serious condition.