How does a fall affect asthma?

 

 

How could a fall possibly affect asthma?

You might be surprised. 

I had a bad fall last week and was injured enough that I needed to go to Urgent Care.  

I was in a lot of pain and noticed that I was breathing hard and fast. From teaching asthma education for the last 15 years, I know that an asthma trigger can be strong emotions (such as anger, laughing, crying, surprise, fear, anxiety, etc)

I was fearful that I had broken my arm and would need a cast. I knew that if I didn’t get my breathing under control, I would have an asthma attack. So I focused on belly breathing (which is similar to yoga breaths) to calm down my breathing and relax a little bit.

Years ago, I taught Open Airways classes at local elementary schools. The six week workshops are short lessons designed to help kids learn about their asthma and how to control it. During one of the modules, I would teach kids how to belly breathe if they were having a hard time with their asthma. 

I taught the workshop so many times that the lessons have stuck with me. And I now remember to belly breathe when I'm having a tough time with my asthma.

This was hard to do as we were driving to urgent care and I was in a lot of pain. But I knew that an asthma attack would soon follow if I didn't get my breathing under control. And it worked, by the time we arrived my breathing was normal again. 

Three hours later as we were waiting to get a cast on my arm, I noticed my lungs were a little cranky. So I decided I better take a puff or two of my albuterol to prevent my asthma from getting worse. And luckily, I didn’t end up having an asthma attack.

As we returned home it was obvious that I wasn’t going to be able to do some tasks with a broken arm. One of those was using my inhaler.

I’m very uncoordinated (which is why I fell). I use a spacer with my inhaler, and it requires two hands. One to hold the spacer and the other to press the Albuterol inhaler. But I couldn’t figure out how to do that with one hand.

So I have to shake the inhaler, put the spacer in my mouth, and tell one of my family members to press the inhaler for me.

It works!

But I am very independent, so it’s hard to ask for help.

Has anyone else had an accident that affected their asthma? Either causing an asthma attack or not being able to maneuver the inhaler?