What causes wheezing in toddlers? Wheezing is a harsh, raspy sound normally associated with narrowing of the airway and heard on breathing out. Young children can develop the symptom of wheezing if they suffer from asthma, a respiratory infection causing blockage or narrowing of the airways or structural abnormalities in the airways.

If your child also suffers from eczema and allergies then the most likely cause of wheezing is asthma. This is a condition that causes the airways to react to certain triggers such as pollen, dust mites and even cold air. The constriction of the airways is caused both by inflammation and excessive mucus production.

Wheezing in toddlers can be very alarming for parents who have never heard or experienced it before. Often the wheezing starts off as a cough (usually at night for asthma sufferers) and then progresses to a wheeze. This can then set off a full-blown asthma attack in some children.

It is very important to identify the triggers that cause wheezing in your child and remove them. For example, if your child tends to start wheezing at night whilst asleep in bed, there may be an allergy to dust mites. Regular vacuuming will help reduce wheezing and allergic reactions. Also, look out for any soft toys that may be harbouring dust mites and collecting dust. These should be removed from the room your child is sleeping in.

Current treatment of wheezing in toddlers involves the use of bronchodilators to open up the airways and steroids to reduce inflammation. However, these methods do not always work very effectively. One of the main causes of wheezing is associated with tightness of the breathing muscles namely the diaphragm and the muscles surrounding the chest. Drugs and medication do very little to relax these muscles and they gradually become more and more tense.

No matter what the cause of wheezing in toddlers, it is very important to address the issue of muscle tightness. Tense respiratory muscles very quickly go into spasm. An asthma attack is an example of the diaphragm going into spasm and preventing any air from being inhaled or exhaled.

Even if your young child does not have asthma but a respiratory infection which is causing wheezing, the diaphragm and breathing muscles will be very tense due to the added effort of breathing. By relaxing these muscles you not only aid the breathing process but also treat the wheezing itself.

Imagine what it would be like to be fine one minute, a normal, healthy person with a full breath of air in your lungs. Then, after an innocent whiff of the “wrong” flower or pet or perfume, you’ve suddenly fighting for your next breath, gasping for life-giving air as your chest feels like it’s caught in a vise.

As many as 10 percent Americans know this feeling. They’re asthmatic. More than half the cases of asthma in children and young adults are allergic asthma. And most know the quickest relief comes from using their medication as directed, especially during an attack. But there are other ways to quickly control asthma.

Sip a cup of hot soup. Actually, any warm liquid may lessen the severity of asthma attacks and quickly relieve them when they occur. Cold liquids irritate bronchial tubes, while warm liquids have the opposite effect. Even during an attack, warm drinks can soothe it in 5 to 60 minutes. During the day of an attack, I recommend drinking between six and eight glasses of warm water or another drink, continuing even after the attack ends. Every day you should have at least four to six glasses. The more liquids you consume, the less thick your mucus will be. And you don’t wan thick mucus.

Have a cup of tea. That’s regular tea, not herbal. Regular coffee will work, too. The caffeine opens airways much like the inhalers used by asthmatics. The relief the caffeine brings isn’t as quick as that from an inhaler, but it’s just as effective-and a good thing to know if you have asthma and you forget to bring your inhaler. Cola will in a pinch, although if it’s cold it can irritate bronchial tubes.

Get a flu shot. Viruses are one of the key factors that trigger asthma attacks. So get a flu shot every year.

Take time to acclimate to temperature changes. Any extreme of weather can trigger an attack, so take 5 minutes or so to try to acclimate. If you’re coming from one extreme outside to another inside, stand in the foyer-or another place cooler than the rest of the building-for a few minutes to get your body used to the difference. And when it’s cold, take an extra minute or so to put mask or scarf over your face and cover your neck.

Evacuate during house cleanings. If you have asthma, leave the house while it’s being cleaned. And when the house is being painted, plan to take a full week’s vacation.

Take your medicine before gardening. You don’t have to give up gardening. Some asthmatics even report overcoming garden allergies altogether by faithfully pre-treating.

Free breathing at once. If you have an asthmatic child who’s unable to breath, lightly pound him on the back, using a cupped hand. This series of gentle blows can dislodge mucus that accumulates in the trachea and obstructs breathing. To boost this treatment’s effectiveness, make sure the child’s head is below his waist.

Uncork mucus with a hearty morning cough. The cough reflex shuts down during sleep, but a hearty morning cough uncorks much of the mucus that can accumulate overnight in the bronchial tree.

Use your inhaler properly. Between 20 and 75 percent of people who use metered-dose inhalers to relieve their asthma are using them incorrectly. You should place the inhaler about an inch and a half away from your mouth and begin breathing in before activating the inhaler. Hold your breath for 10 seconds and then breathe out normally.

Encourage kids to drink lots of liquids. Use a shot glass to trick kids into drinking more liquids than they might want. Children can be fooled into drinking the right amount of fluids by giving them a shot of liquid every 10 to 15 minutes.

Have a wheezing baby checked immediately. Don’t wait-run to your doctor if you hear your baby wheezing. Breathing problems in an infant can become critical in a matter of hours. A pregnant woman with asthma symptoms should call a doctor also; if she can’t breathe, neither can her baby.

Stick with methodical sports. Some exercise can trigger an asthmatic reaction that starts 6 or 7 minutes after exercise begins. But sport such as baseball, doubles in tennis, and golf are okay: They don’t require the constant prolonged movement that can cause an asthma attack.

Think positively to breathe positively. Asthma, like other chronic diseases such as migraines and pain syndromes associated with cancer, can be treated with biofeedback, self-hypnosis, and other relaxation techniques. And that can be done in about 25 minutes a day.

Meanwhile, a study from England showed that asthmatics who regularly practice yoga breathing exercises significantly improved their condition.

It’s the old business of mind over matter. The mind and body are highly connected, and thinking good thoughts and practicing positive imagery can improve some physical conditions. In past studies, we have found that some children who have learned self-hypnosis improved their asthma significantly. In a matter of a few days, you can learn self-hypnosis well enough to do the same.

Short of medication, what I often recommend for asthma is relaxation. What happens with asthma is you’re hungry for air so you panic and the panic tends to make asthma worse. Simply relaxing the way you usually relax is one of the best treatments you can give yourself-and relaxation can help soothe an asthma attack in about 15 to 20 minutes.

Asthma is a common medical condition that affects more than 300 million people worldwide. It is a chronic inflammatory disease that is characterized by sudden constriction of the muscles in the bronchial walls, reversible obstruction of airflow and recurring symptoms of shortness of breath, tightness of the chest, coughing and wheezing.

The most common trigger of an asthma attack is the inhalation of unclean air, such as the airborne irritants and allergens. With the kind of pollution that we have today, we cannot even guarantee that the air inside our house is one hundred percent allergen and dust-free. Even your own room can pose a threat to you or to any of your family members who are prone to asthma attacks.

Other known causes of asthma are certain respiratory infections during childhood. Infants and young children are more prone to develop respiratory issues compared to older children or adults because their immune system is still not that strong. If an infant or a child develops a respiratory illness due to an unhealthy air or environment, there is a big chance that she or he will develop asthma in later years.

Fortunately, with today’s advanced technology, it is now possible to clean or purify the air inside the house. Installing a home air purification system inside your house can help eliminate not only the irritants and allergens (such as dander, pet hair, pollen, dust) that can trigger an asthma attack, but also airborne bacteria that can cause other health related problems. With air purifiers, you are rest assured that your young ones are breathing in fresh air and are not exposed to harmful components in the air.

Cleaning the air inside your house is almost impossible without the aid of a home air purification system or air filters. Dusting or frequent cleaning is never enough because the minute dust particles are still there, just not visible enough to be seen by the naked eye. These minute particles may still be in the pillows, furniture, bed and carpet. Also, you may not have the needed time to clean your house frequently enough especially if you are always on a hectic schedule, which may leave your family members vulnerable to health issues.

There are now home air purification systems available which are made especially to filter asthma-causing airborne particles. Studies have shown that the right home air purification system can remove up to 99.7% of suspended particles found in the ambient air – from dust, allergens and even bacteria. Thus, if you are looking for air purifiers that will not only filter the air inside your homes from dust but also from asthma-causing particles, then be ready to invest in a little more time, effort and perhaps even money in looking for the right unit to use.

So can clean air really help prevent asthma?

Yes, clean air can help a lot in preventing asthma in infant and young children and in preventing asthma attacks in people who are already suffering from asthma.

As I read through pages and pages of online documentation about Asthma, all I really see is a no win situation for someone that suffers from the horrible disease we call Asthma. Why do we have to give in to this terrible disease? It is my belief that all the research that I have done and the personal experience I have had with Asthma, that asthma can be beat. When my 4 year old son was diagnosed, my first thoughts were “what can I do to help my child overcome this disease?” My parents always taught me where there is a will there is a way. I went out to learn more about how asthma works and how asthma affects each and every person that has it.

First it causes your airway to tighten so much that air slows going into the lungs, causing stress and panic. There are drugs that help combat this but at what price? My son would take his inhaler at the time of his attacks and he would only get temporary relief. He would then start to pull at his mother’s pants in a desperate attempt to breathe again. He would beg and cry for us to give him more drugs before it was time again. It was heart wrenching to watch as we were helpless in our ability to help him. The drugs dose was 2 inhales maximum, so anymore of it could cause problems like an overdose. He would suffer with panic in his eyes and cry for help with what air he had left to breathe.

As a parent, our children are the most important things to us. If you are like me, I you would gladly give up my life for my Childs but in this situation, all I could do is watch helplessly. I believe that what we are doing to our planet is what is causing our population to become ill. There are diseases and illness that that are much worse than Asthma. Cancer is now taking 1 out of 3 people. I find it hard to believe that 5 years ago Cancer was 1 out of 229 people, and today’s unbelievable numbers are 1 out of 3. What have we done to our planet to cause this much of a problem? I can tell you that we have done more than our share of damage.

Over the years we have become dependent on chemicals for cleaning and disinfecting. Just the making of toys for children has left a devastating effect on our earth. There are metric tons of toxins in our jet stream right now. These toxins are raining down on us like a cloud of destruction. We make more and more cars every year that contribute to this phenomenon. This problem doesn’t have any end in the foreseeable future. But there are ways to combat what is happening to our planet. It is my belief that we must work on removing the toxins that have built up in our bodies and give our bodies a chance to combat the many diseases that come from a toxic burdened body.

Your doctor can get you on your way to prevention. There are many ways to remove the toxic burden that most of us face today. There was a study done some time ago where a woman reporter did a report on children being born with over 250 toxins and heavy metals in their bodies. She was so overwhelmed by this number that she went and had her own blood tested to see what was going on in her body. What she found was staggering… There were PCB’s (a group of about 209 different compounds) that was found in her blood that had been banned in the U.S. 30 years ago. How did that end up in her blood stream after so many years of being banned?

The answer is the United States banned it but in many other countries it was not. They are still produced today and continue to affect millions if not billions of people around the world. Learn more about how you can rid these toxins from your body. We have discovered a way that has zero side effects and has the ability to achieve amazing results, and in some Asthma cases like my sons, miraculous results.