Pediatric Asthma

Childhood can be just as stressful for a child as adulthood is for an adult.

Stress often multiplied many times over in an asthmatics child. Imagine never knowing when you might suddenly be breathless.

Researchers have found there is a clear link between pediatric asthma and stress. But it might surprise you to know that the link may be spiral in nature. Asthma feeding the stress, then the stress worsening the asthma which causes more stress and so on. In addition, when a child has asthma more stress is placed on the entire household. This stress is added to the burden the child is already bearing simply by having asthma.

The most important first step to reduce the impact of pediatric asthma and stress on your child is to rely on your child’s asthma treatment plan. With the treatment plan on a daily basis whether there are symptoms or not, you can eventually prevent the symptoms. 

When you deviate from this treatment plan just because your child has not experience any recent attacks, you are allowing the symptoms to return which contributes new stress to the condition.

Research shows that families misunderstand the disease and have a tendency to treat it only after symptoms have appeared. This will not only gives unnecessary stress on the child and the family but the child’s life is at great risk.

There will always be a nagging fear in the mind of your child even though the condition is getting better. That sooner or later something will trigger another asthma attack. 

The more your child worries about triggering an attack, likely the stress from that worry will lead to an acute episode causing more stress.

Parents or guardians can easily be caught up in the relationship between pediatric asthma and stress as well. Taking care of child with asthma can be stressful for parents and siblings. 

There is the worry and fear that his symptoms might flare up at any time and an acute attack might actually take your child from you. Concern about being able to afford the treatments and required medications is stressful too.

According to the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, many families with asthmatic children operate in a constant crisis mode. They coast along, pretending everything is fine, until an acute asthmatic episode strikes in the middle of the night and necessitates another trip to the emergency room. 

Then once the episode is brought under control, things settle down again for awhile, until the next one hits.

Asthma treatment plan include management of the asthma and the environment, medication and the necessary steps during emergency. This plan also gives you and your child the confidence to handle whatever situations arise and to control asthma rather than asthma controlling you. 

Asthma treatment plan is very important and the best way to deal with pediatric asthma.