Smart tips to keep asthma symptoms from getting worse
If you have asthma, catching a cold can trigger symptoms or make things worse. A cold virus gets into your upper respiratory system (your nose and throat). It then inflames the airways in your lungs, causing the airways to tighten. This can lead to an asthma flare-up, including coughing, shortness of breath, and wheezing (a high-pitched, musical sound that comes from the chest when exhaling).
“It adds a whole separate set of symptoms on top of the cold,” says Andrew Ting, MD, a pediatric pulmonologist at Kravis Children’s Hospital at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York.
How can you tell the difference?
It’s tricky. With a cold, you can have a cough. With asthma, you can also have a cough. With either a cold or asthma, a cough could stay with you for weeks. See the chart below for some key differences.
Coughs come from different parts of your body. When it’s a cold, it comes from the nose and throat. A nasal drip or scratchy throat causes a tickle in your throat and makes you cough. With asthma, it comes from your lungs and requires different medications, Dr. Ting says.
To keep a cold from triggering your asthma, wash your hands often and make sure you get a flu shot. Ask your doctor if you should also get the pneumonia vaccine.
If you get a cold
Get plenty of rest and drink lots of fluids. Ask your doctor about acetaminophen or other remedies that may make you feel better. For asthma, you may need controller medications as well as rescue inhalers or quick-relief medications.
Your asthma action plan should include steps for dealing with a cold or the flu. If you don’t have a written action plan, talk to your doctor about coming up with one. Your plan might include increasing your usual asthma medications.
SYMPTOM COLD ASTHMA Cough Yes Yes Trouble breathing Yes Scratchy throat Yes Runny nose Yes Wheezing Yes Fever Yes Shortness of breath Yes
