nebuliser

[Villager2]

I am taking a long haul plane journey soon and wondered if anyone has had a positive experience with portable nebulisers and what to be look out for when using one.

[Hidden]

The most important thing if you haven’t already done it, is to contact the airline ASAP. You will be able to take your nebuliser as separate from your hand luggage giving you more space for other things! And they will tell you if there are conditions for use during the flight etc.

[Lysistrata Administrator Community Ambassador]

Hi, I've taken a small portable nebuliser on a flight many times. I use a small zip pouch about 6in x 4in for mine so it doesn't take up much space (the cases they come in I find are NOT portable and don't have storage for things like spare nebules or batteries, so I got one that is and has pockets).

I admit I haven't contacted the airline but I did look up to check it was ok to take it on/use it during the flight and it is. I've used it many times on planes. They actually say on websites not to use it during takeoff or descent/landing, which was hard because planes descending is a major trigger for me! So i was avoiding and just taking a lot of Ventolin with a spacer, but a friend told me that she's used a nebuliser on descent, and another friend I was travelling with just asked the cabin crew to help me get it down when I stupidly left it in the overhead locker. They were fine with that (to be honest I think they freaked out lol because I was making terrible asthma noises) - so you could ask/let the cabin crew know ahead of time if it's ok if you think you may need it then. I always worry someone will think I'm vaping, but no one has yet (except someone at work from the cloud, and when they actually saw me using it they could see it wasn't a vape).

Do you have a portable nebuliser yet? If you're looking to buy one, I would give Evergreen Nebulisers a call and ask for their advice - they are so helpful and can tell you what would work best for you, and are very responsive if anything needs replacing. I got a Philips Innospire Go which I find better than the Omron Microair one I used to have (less fiddly - you don't want to be chasing bits across a plane floor then having to clean them!) and works better.

The mesh ones are very small and quiet, though it depends on if you just want to be using salbutamol or ipratropium as I think saline or antibiotics won't work with the mesh type. Evergreen can help with that. The ones I mentioned aren't cheap (there are cheaper on Amazon), but if you are already using a nebuliser anyway and want a portable version then if you can afford it, it is worth it to get the good ones from Evergreen as you'll probably use them a lot even outside planes. I find it so useful to have it in my handbag for surprise triggers that my inhaler can't handle and I use it at home too when I need a nebuliser, though I have a big one the hospital lent me (it's good, basically the big Philips version of my portable, but much bigger and noisier and takes longer, as well as needing to be plugged in).

[Hotchops]

I travelled from Manchester to the Maldives last year.i have a small hand held nebuliser .and I just told a member of the crew when I need to use it .they was fine with it .enjoy holiday x

[Birthday60]

I have a very small battery operated one. It’s great

[Villager2]

thanks all.

I have already cleared this with airline and will now all evergreen for advice as I need to use it for upratroprium, Sal and saline. It seems like it could be a useful addition to the instruments and devices we have to rely on.