What Is Asthma

For men who love to participate in sports or any strenuous activities, getting diagnosed with exercise induced asthma is probably one of the most devastating or irritating news that they can get. This means limited and monitored activities, regular checkups, medication and constant caution in order to prevent unwanted circumstances.

Exercise induced asthma can occur at any age and is equally common in children and adults. In actuality exercise induced asthma is prevalent in children because of the more active lifestyle that they have. Symptoms include shortness of breath, tightness of the chest, cough, and wheezing caused by the constriction of the bronchial tubes due to inflammation. Typically, most asthmatics do not feel the symptoms during the actual exercise itself, and it is only about 5 to 10 minutes into the exercise and the same time after which exercise induced asthma (EIA) reaches its more severe point and creating distress.

Research has also found that without treatment there are cases where the attack steadily wears over the next 30 to 45 minutes. So does this meant that if you have EIA you should stop exercising? Of course not! The benefits that exercise can bring for asthmatics cannot be punctuated enough. Exercise can strengthen the respiratory as well as the immune system preventing any other ailments from setting in and making things worse.

Taking extra precaution before, during and after exercise can minimize the chances that you will be running into problems anytime during your regimen. But in case your asthma does flare up here are a couple of things which can help you to stop things from getting worse and take care of the problem just within a few minutes:

Rapid-Acting Bronchodilator: Inhalation of a rapid acting bronchodilator (approx. 2 puffs from your albuterol) during attacks can prevent the progress of asthma and give you relief just within a few minutes after inhalation.

Steam: If anytime during your exercise you start to experience the symptoms of asthma and you're without your emergency/rescue medication you can use steam as an alternative in order to get quick relief. Try running the shower the fullest it can go and wait for the steam to rise. Once the room is misty enough get into the shower and start inhaling deeply. You'll find that within a few minutes your symptoms will start to dissipate.

Exercise induced asthma in men, can be very manageable and controllable. As long as you have all the information that you need, you wouldn't need to worry about flaring up or getting any attacks while in the middle of your exercise regimen. Take time to learn more about exercise induced asthma so that no matter what happens you will never be caught off guard.