Asthma Treatment
How asthma treatment works, and the medicines and habits that help.
Many people with asthma live active, healthy lives when their condition is controlled properly. This chapter covers the medicines that help and how to handle triggers. It follows the guidelines for people aged 12 and over.
Main Goals of Asthma Treatment
Treatment works best when you understand it and follow it together with your medical team.
🎯Two main goals
- Prevent asthma attacks.
- Control asthma symptoms.
✅How to reach those goals
- Know your triggers and how to avoid them.
- Recognize symptoms and know how to respond.
- Monitor your breathing to see if treatment is working.
- Use tools that help assess how severe symptoms are.
Asthma Plans
People with asthma usually have two types of plans, created with their medical team.
🗓️Regular Asthma Plan
- Covers your daily medication: what to take, how, and how often.
- Helps keep your asthma stable over time.
🚨Asthma Action Plan
- Tells you what to do when symptoms get worse or during an attack.
- Lists your warning signs and when to get urgent help.
Medication
Asthma treatment is not the same for everyone. This chapter describes the types of medication rather than naming specific products, because brand names vary by country and can change or be discontinued. What helps most is knowing which types are used in asthma. Your medication is chosen together with your medical team.
🧩What your medication is based on
- Your age.
- The type and severity of your symptoms.
- Your known asthma triggers.
- Other health conditions and any medicines you already take.
💊Two types of medication
- A reliever inhaler, which works within minutes to open the airways when symptoms come.
- Long-term control medication, taken regularly, which works over days to weeks to calm inflammation and prevent symptoms.
⏱️When you take meds
- Every day.
- Only when needed.
- Or a mix of both.
Good to know
If you need your reliever inhaler often, it may be a sign that your long-term treatment needs adjusting. Let your medical team know.
Side effects
Side effects depend on which medication you take, and they can range from mild to more serious. Possible examples include a rash, swelling, heart palpitations, nervousness, weight gain, or headache. Tell your medical team about any changes you notice, and never stop a medication on your own.
Reliever Medication
A reliever, also called quick-relief or rescue medication, works within minutes to open the airways when symptoms come. It is usually inhaled, and you should carry it with you at all times. There are two kinds of reliever inhaler.
🔀Two kinds of reliever inhaler
- A short-acting reliever opens the airways fast but contains no steroid, so it does nothing about the inflammation underneath.
- A combined reliever contains a fast-acting medicine plus a low dose of steroid, so it works just as fast and treats the inflammation at the same time.
- If you use only one inhaler, guidelines say it should be a combined reliever that contains a steroid. A reliever without a steroid is no longer recommended on its own, at any age.
💨Short-acting beta2-agonists (SABAs)
- Quickly open the airways and help prevent attacks brought on by physical activity.
- Taken as inhalers or through a nebulizer.
🫁Short-acting anticholinergics
- Work as bronchodilators and quickly open the airways.
- Often used when SABAs cause side effects.
- Mostly prescribed to adults with other lung conditions (such as emphysema or chronic bronchitis).
💊Systemic corticosteroids
- Reduce inflammation and help ease airway swelling.
- Taken as tablets or given through an IV.
- Used short-term because of possible serious side effects.
Long-Term Control Medication
Long-term medication reduces airway inflammation and relaxes the airway muscles. It is usually taken daily to prevent attacks and control symptoms.
🫧Corticosteroids
- Reduce airway swelling.
- Can take days to weeks to reach full effect.
- Available as inhalers (nebulizer, metered-dose, or dry-powder).
- Have fewer side effects than oral corticosteroids.
🧬Leukotriene modifiers
- Block or reduce leukotrienes, which cause airway narrowing and mucus.
- Sometimes used together with corticosteroids.
- Montelukast has a boxed warning for serious mental health side effects. Talk to your medical team right away if you notice changes in mood or behavior while taking it.
💨Long-acting beta2-agonists (LABAs)
- Relax the airway muscles (bronchodilator) for a longer period.
- Often prescribed when inhaled steroids alone do not control daily symptoms.
- A LABA is never taken on its own for asthma. It is always used together with an inhaled corticosteroid, because taking a LABA alone raises the risk of severe asthma attacks.
🔀Combination inhalers
- Contain a long-acting beta agonist (LABA) and an inhaled corticosteroid.
- Help reduce inflammation and keep airway muscles relaxed.
🕒Long-acting anticholinergics (LAMAs)
- Relax the airway muscles for up to 24 hours, usually taken once a day.
- Usually added when an inhaled corticosteroid plus a LABA is not enough.
🛡️Immunomodulatory medication (biologics)
- Change how the immune system responds.
- Prescribed when other asthma medication is not working well enough.
Allergy Medication
If allergies trigger your asthma or make symptoms worse, there are specific options that can help.
💉Allergy shots
- Reduce the immune system’s reaction to specific allergens.
- Contain a small amount of an allergen, with the dose slowly increased over time.
- Aim to make your reaction weaker and help your body build tolerance.
- The schedule can be intense: weekly shots for the first few months, then monthly for longer.
💊Immunotherapy tablets
- Available for some allergens and can be taken instead of allergy shots.
🤧Symptom-relief medications
- Help relieve symptoms, available as tablets or nasal sprays.
- These include antihistamines, decongestant nasal sprays, and corticosteroid nasal sprays.
How to Handle Common Triggers
How you handle a trigger depends on the trigger. Here are some suggestions for the most common ones.
How to handle common triggers
- Pollen: Keep windows closed during peak pollen times; shower and wash your hair after being outdoors.
- Ozone: Levels are usually higher in the afternoon and on warm days, so limit outdoor activity then.
- Indoor triggers (candles, dust, allergens): Use allergy-proof bedding and wash it in hot water weekly; avoid wood stoves and open wood fires.
- Smoking and vaping: Avoid smoking and vaping, and stay away from areas where others smoke, especially indoors.
- Fragrances and chemicals: Use unscented products; air out rooms well after cleaning.
- Pets: Avoid contact with the animal that causes the allergy.
- Exercise: Consider taking your reliever inhaler 5 to 20 minutes before an activity, depending on the medication and your medical team’s advice.
- Cold weather: Dress warmly and keep clothes dry; cover your nose and mouth with a scarf to warm the air; try to breathe through your nose.
- Infections: Stay up to date with vaccinations for flu and COVID.
- Emotions and stress: Use relaxation techniques to help lower stress.
Worried about a symptom? Talk to your medical team. TeenHealthInsight is health education, not a substitute for medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Never change your medication without speaking to your asthma team first.