Effective Ways to Treat Asthma in Children Aged 5-11

Asthma in children is one of the most common causes of missed school days. The airway condition can disrupt sleep, play and other activities.

Asthma can’t be cured. But you and your child can lessen the symptoms. The key is to follow an asthma action plan. This is a written plan you make with your child’s healthcare team. It helps you track symptoms and adjust treatment as needed.

Asthma treatment in children:

• Improves day-to-day breathing.
• Reduces flare-ups of asthma symptoms.
• Helps lessen other problems caused by asthma.

With proper treatment, even serious asthma can be kept under control.

Common asthma symptoms in children ages 5 to 11 include:

• Coughing, especially at night.
• A high-pitched whistling sound made while breathing out, called wheezing.
• Trouble breathing.
• Chest pain, tightness or discomfort.
• Staying away from or losing interest in sports or physical activities.

Some children have few day-to-day symptoms, but they have serious asthma attacks now and then. Other children have mild symptoms or symptoms that get worse at certain times.

You may notice that your child’s asthma symptoms get worse:

• At night or in the early morning.
• With activity.
• When your child has a cold.
• With triggers such as cigarette smoke or seasonal allergies.
• During strong emotional reactions, such as crying or laughing.

Severe asthma attacks can be life-threatening. These need to be treated right away in the emergency room. Symptoms of an asthma emergency in children ages 5 to 11 include:

• Serious trouble breathing.
• Lasting coughing or wheezing.
• No improvement after using quick-relief “rescue” medicine through an inhaler, such as albuterol (ProAir HFA, Ventolin HFA, others).
• Not being able to speak without gasping for air.
• Breathing in so hard that the stomach area is sucked under the ribs.
• Nostrils flaring.
• Peak flow meter readings in the red zone. A peak flow meter is a hand-held device that can measure how much air your child can quickly breathe out. Being in the red zone means that the airway has become very narrow.

For children 5 years of age and older, healthcare professionals can find and track asthma with the same tests used for adults. These include spirometry and peak flow meters. They measure how much air your child can quickly force out of the lungs. That provides a sign of how well the lungs are working.
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