Inhaler technique and why it’s important

[EmmaF91]

Lysistrata just showed me this and I couldn’t not share it. And important message told in a (mostly) fun way! (My only disappointment is the lack of spacer! But otherwise it’s a good MDI technique 😉).

youtu.be/Ame_dNNm-XI(Not working as expected?)

[Lysistrata Administrator Community Ambassador]

He does not pull punches either! (For anyone reading, watch the whole thing to see what I mean).

[Hidden]

I agree with this comment with regards the use of a spacer, and the end is a little bit over dramatized in my opinion.

[EmmaF91 Community Ambassador in reply to Hidden]

3 asthma deaths a day

50% of those deaths are ‘mild’ asthmatics like the one in the video

2:1 child to adult

2/3 deaths are from poor decisions/training/knowledge by medical staff or patient and therefore easily preventable

The UK has one of the worst mortality rates for asthma in Europe... off the top of my head child mortality is number 1 and adult mortality is 6th. There are multiple documented cases where people HAVE ended up like that due to poor inhaler technique. Or from non-compliance because they think ‘it’s only asthma. And I don’t feel symptomatic’. I have a friend that if she delays or misses her preventer (ie it runs out and she doesn’t notice or she sleeps in for a couple days in a row) she will end up like that. The 2 people I’ve known who died from asthma were both classed as mild.

It is the reason why your inhaler technique gets checked every time you see an AN. Even if you’re like me and see them 15+ times a year due to admissions and treatments. Because poor technique can kill. It’s why the spacer push is so important too. Cause not only does it make uptake of the medicine more efficient but it also ‘trains’ how to use it. But usually it’s that people don’t shake (so the med doesn’t actually come out properly) or they don’t hold (when using sans spacer so the med can’t work properly).

It seems dramatic but unfortunately it’s really not. I think it just drives home exactly why technique and adherence is so important. (And apologies for the mini rant but it’s a bugbear of mine when people don’t realise/acknowledge how serious and deadly asthma can be)

(all above facts can be found in NRAD/AUK)

[CANINE12 in reply to EmmaF91]

I completely agree with you, I have a friend who has severe asthma who has ended up like this on more than one occasion, fortunately they are still around to tell the tale.

This can and has happened to mild asthmatics too.

I agree a spacer is vitally important as well as waiting for a minute or two for the canister to warn up again after it was used the first time. I learned this from a lovely Asthma UK helpline nurse.

[CANINE12]

I'm wondering whether it's possible to ask in the comments for them to do another one using a spacer. Not sure how old the video is.

[EmmaF91 Community Ambassador in reply to CANINE12]

4yrs old... he has one about guidelines (I don’t like that one/agree with how it’s presented as much) which is 7 years old... always worth asking tho 😉

[Wheezycat]

Thank you Emma! As someone who lost a parent to asthma, I do think adherence to medication and good practice is so important. My father died aged 29 when he and my mother had been married for just 2.5 years. They came from different countries and my mother had to move back. It left her damaged, and she could never remarry. It was not just a tragedy, but devastating! It was in the days before modern meds, and I wish more than I can say my father had had access to them, as that would have given me a chance to get to know him, or even just remember him. So adherence etc is so important! And taking yourself and your asthma seriously ! I have not always been good at it as I didn’t realise, but I have learnt!

[CANINE12 in reply to Wheezycat]

I am sorry to hear that you lost your father to asthma. It just shows how it affects family and friends when a loved one doesn't survive an asthma attack.

[Wheezycat in reply to CANINE12]

Thank you. It was a long time ago, but yes, the fall out took many years to get over.