What are inhalers used for? Inhalers are used to reduce the inflammation of the respiratory tract. Inhalers have anti-inflammatory medicines installed in them which fight against swelling and thereby minimize the growth of mucus in the airways. Due to this, the sensitive airways have a less exposure to recurring triggers of inflammation. Some inhalers have a strong working mechanism and are likely to react more quickly than others. However, some may start working after a period of few weeks and even a month.
What is the purpose of using inhalers?
Inhalers are also termed as Bronchodilators. Inhalers are used to dilate and lessen the effect of strengthen muscles that surround your lungs.
Inhalers work by relaxing the air passage so that more oxygen could move into the lungs and hence carbon dioxide could go out of the passage easily, resulting in maintenance of a normal air flow.
In case of asthma, the air passage becomes restricted with muscles that strongly influence the process of respiration with their tightness.
This tightness results in swelling and narrowing of the air passage. In this condition, using inhalers results in diluting the constricted air passage by relaxing those tight muscles.
SUMMARY:
People with asthma use inhalers as they have a capsule or drug inserted in them, in most of the types. This drug reduces the swelling of air tube and comforts breathing.
Based on their usage, inhalers have the following types:
| Characteristics | pMDI | DPI | NEBULIZER | SOFT-MIST |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Types | 2 | 3 | 3 | Single |
| Use | Easier to use | Easier to use | Easier to use | Confusing |
| Capsule/drug | No such | Some have, others don’t | Yes | Yes |
| Cost | cheap | expensive | Cheap | Expensive |
1. pMDI:
Among the most important of all inhalers are the pMDIs. This type is further consists of two categories. The first one is the mechanical while the second one is breath-acute.
To use mechanical inhalers, the person has to press the trigger just before he/she starts to inhale it. Mechanical inhalers are not very suitable for people who are older or having some arthritis issues.
On the other side are breath-acute inhalers. These types of inhalers are more suitable as they don’t need much effort to make them start working. Rather, they start to work as soon as the patient inspires through them.
Breath-acute inhalers have a much stronger restriction that the patients have to inhale above the average volume, which is usually 30 mL in a second so that the inhaler could properly start working.
2. DRY POWDER INHALERS:
Dry Powder Inhalers or DPIs are designed in a way so that they could be much easier to use than pMDIs.
Those patients who can’t compete the time lapse of pMDIs due to their insufficient strength and lack of potential are much inclined to use DPIs.
Dry Powder Inhalers have the advantage that they give a single or multiple puffs, depending on the need of their users. With the emergence of different marketing strategies, DPIs are further broken down into their different categories.
Some DPIs work by inserting a medication in them, while others work on their own. This breakdown is a major disadvantage as it hinders the correct use of these inhalers.
Sometimes, there occurs a misconception and the users don’t understand which type they should use. Due to this disadvantage, it has reduced the sales of these inhalers as they are not user-friendly.
3. NEBULIZERS:
The first known medicine for treating asthma patients were the Nebulizers. Nebulizers have the mechanism that as soon as they are compressed the medicine comes out of the spray and enters directly into the lungs.
Nebulizers have a mouthpiece which is the most important of its parts and plays a key role in the process of inspiration.
The patient holds nebulizer in his/her hand and the mouthpiece is brought close to the mouth. Then, the patient has to take long and deep breaths for almost ten to fifteen minutes.
This process allows the diluted medicine to reach the lungs and open the constricted muscles in an efficient way.
Nebulizers have the advantage that they don’t need much strength to make them work.
Although nebulizers are easy to use but still the patient has to seek advice from his/her doctor regarding the use of nebulizers which also depends upon the medications the doctor advises the patient to use.
Another type of nebulizer is an ultrasonic one which works upon the level of sound, but it is more expensive than other nebulizers.
4. SOFT-MIST INHALERS:
The third and the latest of all inhalers are the soft-mist inhalers. The puff of medicine through this type of inhalers is much slower than others.
More than one and a half second are required to make the drug come out of the spray and reach the last destination of lungs, the alveoli.
The patient is much comfortable in using these type of inhalers and they work according to the time lapse and the user gets time in between the ejection of drug and its reach to alveoli.
These type of inhalers are much popular among the general public nowadays.
Given below are the drugs that can be inserted in the inhaler for their use, either in single form or by combining both of them:
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Corticosteroids
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Bronchodilators
SUMMARY:
The first type of inhalers are the pMDIs. DPIs are the second type of inhalers and work with either the drug inserted in them or on their own. Nebulizers are the third type of inhalers and work with the mouthpiece attached to patient’s mouth. The latest of all inhalers are the soft-mist inhalers. Their puff is much slower than others.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQs):
People ask a number of questions related to the use of inhalers. Some of the most commonly asked questions and their answers are given below:
1. What does an inhaler have in it?
Inhalers have the key purpose to reduce the swelling of the airways. This swelling is reduced through medicines installed in inhalers.
Often, steroids are used inside inhalers, but many inhalers also have bronchodilators to reduce this swelling. Some inhalers have a combination of steroids and bronchodilators. These type of inhalers are termed as a combination of two.
2. Can an inhaler help a cough?
There are certain types of inhalers recommended by allergists, depending upon the allergic cough symptoms of the patients. These inhalers reduce the inflammation of the airways thereby reducing the attacks of cough.
3. How to use inhaler for asthma?
Following steps should be followed for the proper use of inhaler:
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Clean the mouthpiece and bring it close to your mouth.
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Shake the inhaler up and down to activate the medicine.
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Start taking breaths through the inhaler slowly.
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Move the head a little backward.
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Stop your breath for a few seconds so that the medicine could reach the lungs properly.
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Give out the stored breath through nasal passage.
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To take more puffs of the inhaler, wait for a minute and then repeat the above procedure.
4. What are the side effects of using inhalers?
Most common side-effects are:
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Sore throat
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Cough
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■■■■■■ that grows inside mouth
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Bleeding of the nose
5. What is an inhaler?
Inhalers are the anti-inflammatory medicines that reduce the swelling of the airways and hence reduce the problem of breathing.
CONCLUSION:
People with asthma have swollen and constricted air passage which hinders the process of breathing.
This constriction is lessen with the use of inhalers. Inhalers have a capsule attached in them which comes out in the form of spray as soon as the trigger is pressed.
This spray of medicine enters the lungs and opens up the constriction. Inhalers are of different types.