Counters on inhalers

(Ventolin.com)

Son #2 needed a new inhaler, and I REALLY wanted one with a counter on it. It's very hard to know how many puffs are left in an inhaler-unless you use a marker and put hash marks on the canister holder every time you use it. And if an inhaler has 200 doses, that can be a lot of hash marks!

Ventolin has a counter on the inhaler, but for some strange reason, my insurance company won't cover it. I had to call them to find out which rescue inhaler they WILL cover. The only one is ProAir. So I was excited to learn in Allergy & Asthma Today magazine that ProAir also has an inhaler with a counter.The link listed above will take you to the "Top Ten Innovations in Technology Awards"on the website. It's a shorter story than the magazine article.)  The magazine article says that the ProAir inhaler came out in March of 2012, but when I got mine from the pharmacy, it didn't have a counter on it.

I asked the pharmacist why my ProAir didn't have a counter, and he said he hadn't heard about the ProAir having a counter now too. But his guess is that they are still shipping out the old basic design inhalers.

So if your insurance company isn't as picky as mine, maybe you can still get a Ventolin inhaler. They also make a smaller sized inhaler that only has 60 doses. Less doses means it's less expensive too. So if you are on a budget or have to pay cash for your inhaler, you can get the smaller size. (As long as you don't use it too much.)

If your insurance company will only cover ProAir for your rescue inhaler, ask your pharmacist if you can get one with a counter on it. Here's a link to the ProAir website.  

Happy shopping!