Austin Pulmonary Consultants helps patients manage asthma on a regular basis.
Asthma is a very common condition—our patients come from all walks of life and age groups.
Asthma generally causes a person’s airways to narrow, swell, sometimes spasm, and occasionally produce extra mucus, making it hard to breathe. When the symptoms come seemingly out of nowhere, people sometimes say they’re having an asthma attack. It’s a good way to put it; when you’re in the midst of an asthmatic episode, it feels like your lungs are out to get you.
Most of our patients experience asthma for one of several reasons. Other causes can prompt asthma, but these are the most common.
- Exercise-induced asthma. With this type of asthma, you experience symptoms primarily during exercise.
- Occupational asthma. Air particles, including dust or chemicals, can irritate the airways or cause an allergic reaction leading to an asthmatic episode. This form of asthma sometimes accompanies occupational lung disease.
- Allergic asthma. Asthma often couples with allergies. The two can be a potent combination, especially when pollen, mold, or other allergen counts are high.
If you suspect you or a loved one has asthma, set up an appointment with Austin Pulmonary Consultants. We want to help you breathe easier, and that requires a medical diagnosis, treatment, and monitored care. Our team may order pulmonary function testing, chest x-rays or chest CT scans, and other laboratory tests to aid in your diagnosis and treatment.
Once we understand your asthma, we’ll establish a treatment plan. It often involves both long-acting and short-acting medications. Long-acting controller medications include an inhaled steroid to reduce inflammation and prevent frequent asthma symptoms and sometimes also include a long-acting bronchodilator. Short-acting or quick-relief medications are used for acute symptom treatment of shortness of breath, coughing, and wheezing.We may recommend other treatments too depending on your symptoms. We’ll also work through your regular routine so that you can pinpoint and prevent asthma triggers.
To set up an appointment to discuss your asthma symptoms with Austin Pulmonary Consultants, call our North Office at (512) 977-0123 or South Office at (512) 441-9799.
Additional information about asthma can be found on our resources page.
