The key to helping your child avoid asthma triggers is to introduce a raft of measures and be persistent in your application of these depending on their success.Do not be afraid to try a different idea if the first one is not working effectively. A critical early point to consider is whether you have established what factor or factors actually trigger your childs asthma in the first place.

Asthma triggers can range from having a heavy cold to food allergies or reacting to dust and dust mites to over exertion during exercise.Animal hair or fur is another trigger that can cause the uncomfortable and unwanted tightening and shortness of breath.

Be proactive and approach your nearest health centre and ask them to carry out food allergy tests on your child. These are done quickly and simply and produce concrete answers about identified foods that you can then work with.The results may establish certain foods as liable to cause mild reactions or strong reactions.If you have not previously studied the contents of what you and your children eat then it will be very important to do so in these instances.The labelling of foods is very strict now and there will be warning messages of contents liable to cause allergic reactions,for example nuts.It is possible that the food will contain traces of nuts or be made in a factory where nuts are used.At first it would be best to avoid these foods altogether and then maybe introduce them at a later date as children can grow out of asthma as they grow older.

Dust and dust mites are present in everyones house and is not a reflection on how clean you keep your house as much of it will be invisible to the naked eye.Most modern,good quality vacuum cleaners have a hepa filter.Look out for these as they are the most effective in picking up dust and animal hairs, which was suggested earlier as a possible asthma trigger. It is strongly advisable to vacuum your childs bed and sheets regularly with the nozzle as that is where the invisible mites will be.

Getting your child to avoid getting a cold is not easily controllable,but the benefits of a healthy diet including regular fruit and vegetables and water will help their immune system.In addition,it is beneficial to encourage simple habits like washing hands regularly as that will help stop the spread of the cold virus from other people.

Regular exercise is obviously good for the health and well being of all children, but especially in the light of having a heavy cold at the same time it will be important to monitor the level of exercise being taken to ensure your child does not overdo it.Most parents will be quickly aware of what their child is capable of doing at differing stages of health.

All the strategies suggested are practical and potentially successful. They can all be used in conjunction with an inhaler if that has been prescribed by a doctor.

Learn more about this author, Tim Carter.
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