Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease in which airways narrow when they overreact to certain stimuli. Asthma is present even when symptoms are not. At Hickory Allergy, Asthma & Sinus Clinic, we can help you get back to breathing better. Take control of your asthma and give us a call to schedule your consultation. We help manage asthma in adults and children in Hickory, NC.

Underlying inflammation keeps airways irritable and increases re-activity to triggers. Consequently, asthma is treated by decreasing the underlying inflammation with daily medicines and adding reliever medicines to ease the symptoms of recurrent coughing, shortness of breath, chest tightness, and/or wheezing. Symptoms are due to bronchospasm or tight muscles around the airways, swelling inside the airways, excessive mucus sometimes causing plugging, and increasing inflammation leading to air trapping.

Asthma Medications

There are two general classifications of asthma medications including long-term control medications and quick-relief medications.

Quick-acting bronchodilators are used for symptom relief and as a pre-treatment for exercise-induced asthma.

Anti-inflammatory agents play an essential role as controller medicines, taken even when symptoms are not present.  Inhaled corticosteroids are commonly used anti-inflammatory medicines. They prevent and decrease inflammation and reduce the need for quick-relief medications.  Short-courses of oral corticosteroids sometimes are added. An inhaled beta2-agonist bronchodilator for quick-relief can be more effective when oral corticosteroids are added in hard to control asthma episodes.

Asthma & Children

Will my baby have asthma or allergy if one or both parents have it?

Your baby will not necessarily have asthma or allergies. However, a child is more likely to develop asthma or allergies if one parent has either; the risk is greater if both parents have allergy or asthma. You may delay the onset of eczema or food allergy by the diet recommendations under our pregnancy section; respiratory allergies may be delayed by not exposing your infant to indoor allergens and by carrying out house-dust mite avoidance measures in the nursery. Do not expose your infant to smoke.

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)

For thousands of people, living with a chronic breathing problem is something that they don’t have to put up with because we can often diagnose the cause of the breathing problems. Chronic breathing problems can occur due to being a tobacco smoker, a worker in a dusty or environmentally poor industry, or because of inherited respiratory disease.  People with allergies often have asthma associated with their troubles breathing.  The problem is that those who suffer from these conditions might never realize they can get the help that can change their lives. When a breathing problem will not stop or continues to return frequently or with a vengeance, you might find that it’s actually Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). Chronic bronchitis with excess mucus and phlegm are the hallmarks of this breathing problem. Persistent coughing often brings up discolored phlegm which is more than a nuisance. It can be a sign of serious lung damage!

Emphysema

Long-term inflammation of the bronchiole tree leads to excess production of mucus and phlegm that cause coughing, shortness of breath and wheezing. Sound familiar? It could result in something known as emphysema. This is when the air sacs of your lungs are damaged and/or destroyed entirely, they literally pop. This is irreparable and will drastically hamper your quality of life. It will make breathing harder and exercise or strenuous activity increasingly difficult.

Smoking

Smoking is the number one cause of COPD and chronic bronchitis. COPD can be difficult to distinguish from asthma and often both exist in the same person. This mixed breathing disorder needs to be managed by an expert like Dr. Inglefield who can treat each component of your disease. Colds or upper respiratory infections can trigger exacerbations of COPD and asthma. Recognition of this can lead to preventative care to decrease the severity and the frequency of these attacks. If you are suffering from any breathing or coughing issues and you need help diagnosing what your condition may be, then you can look to Hickory Allergy, Asthma & Sinus for our wide range of services to help you find the solution. From a careful history of your problems to CT scans, if appropriate, there can be various ways to look and see what might be going wrong with your respiratory system. Maintaining your good health and future quality of life is very important! COPD is a result of permanent damage to your lungs. Our goal is to prevent further damage and injury using preventative care and quick interventions should you become symptomatic. We know that daily preventative medications and care result in better outcomes for our patients. Whether your COPD is a result of air pollution, smoking or something you inhale when working, this condition can be managed to give you a better quality of life. Visit our office to make sure you are prepared to control and defeat your breathing problems. We can help you to start taking precautions to either prevent the illness in the first place, or minimize the damage it can cause.