Asthma Care

Asthma Care for Children and Adults

Asthma is a long-term condition that affects the airways in your lungs. It can cause wheezing, coughing, chest tightness, and shortness of breath. With the right plan, most people with asthma can stay active, sleep through the night, and avoid trips to the emergency room. At Allergy & Asthma Physicians of Commerce Township, we diagnose and treat asthma in children and adults at our offices in Commerce Township and Mount Clemens.

What Is Asthma?

Asthma is a long-term lung condition. If you have asthma, the lining of your airways stays inflamed (swollen), even when you feel fine. When your airways meet a trigger, they swell more and make extra mucus, and the muscles around them tighten. The airways get narrower, so it’s harder to move air in and out. That’s what causes wheezing (the whistling sound of air moving through narrow airways) and coughing (from the extra mucus).

Asthma can be mild, moderate, or severe, and an attack can last a few minutes or several days. Some people only have symptoms during or after exercise.

Asthma Symptoms

Asthma symptoms can come and go. They may be mild one day and worse the next. Common symptoms include:

• Wheezing
• Coughing, especially at night, early in the morning, or with exercise
• Shortness of breath
• Chest tightness or pressure
• Trouble keeping up with sports or daily activities
• Waking up at night because of coughing or trouble breathing

In young children, a cough that lingers after every cold can be a sign of asthma.

Common Asthma Triggers

Asthma flare-ups are often set off by everyday things. Most triggers fall into three groups:

• Allergens: pollen, pet dander, mold, dust mites, and cockroaches
• Irritants: smoke, perfume, cleaning products, and air pollution
• Physical triggers: colds and flu, exercise, weather changes, cold air, and stress

If allergies set off your asthma, allergy testing can pinpoint your triggers so we can build a plan around them.

Types of Asthma We Treat

• Allergic asthma: triggered by allergens such as pollen, dust mites, pet dander, or mold
• Nonallergic asthma: triggered by things like cold air, smoke, infections, or stress rather than allergens
• Exercise-induced bronchoconstriction: airway narrowing during or after physical activity
• Cough-variant asthma: a dry cough that won’t go away is the main or only symptom
• Childhood asthma: asthma in infants, children, and teens, with plans that work at home and at school
• Severe asthma: asthma that stays hard to control even with daily medicine. Some patients may benefit from biologic therapy.
• Chronic cough: a cough that lasts eight weeks or longer in adults. We look for causes such as asthma, allergies, and postnasal drip.

How We Help

• Asthma Testing: breathing tests, including spirometry and FeNO, to confirm asthma and see how well it’s controlled
• Asthma Treatment: inhaled medicines, biologic therapy, trigger control, and a written asthma action plan