Expert: Karel Sleis - 11/2/2009

Question
My mother has been suffering from asthma for the past 5 years. She has cough/cold most of the time and medicines only provide her temporary relief.

Can respiratory therapy help her?

Answer
What a respiratory therapist does is show the person how to properly use her inhaler.  Some rehabilitation centers have respiratory therapist there that show them how to breathe.  But basically its not used unless one is on oxygen that a company lets the therapist visit in the homes.   The best thing for her or you is to educate yourself on the disease.   First of all she should ask her doctor to be on singulair if she gets a lot of colds.  Next she should purchase a vicks cold mist humidifier from local drugstore, or amazon they sell for 30 dollars, she gets the pediatric size but only vicks one, she fills it up with cold water and add a tablespoon of salt in the water, runs it at night while she sleeps, but put it under a towel as its very noisy.  It filters the air and the salt dries up the secretions.  It also makes for cough free sleep.  If she has a rug put a plastic garbage bag over the rug.where she sleeps as dust makes for asthmatic attack.   Go to american lung assoc.org click on diseases asthma there is much info there as well as canadian lung association .org.  Also she should know the proper way to use her inhaler as if its not used properly its useless.  First she blows out all her air, then she puts inhaler in her night takes a deep breathe in and presses.   Keeps the inhaler in her mouth and holds the meds in her mouth for a count of 10 then whistles the air out.  what this does is the inhaler meds work by saturating ones gums which goes into the system into the airway so holding it in for a count of 10 lets it seep in the gums good.   then whistling it out coats the airway.   feel free to email again karel