The Asthma Program at Rochester Regional Health proudly offers comprehensive and thorough care for Exercise-Induced Asthma (EIA), which causes coughing, shortness of breath, wheezing, and other symptoms during or after exercise.
EIA does not mean you cannot exercise, but it does mean that you’ll need to manage and treat your symptoms with preventive measures and asthma medications. In fact, eight percent of Olympic athletes live with asthma, the same percentage as the United States public. EIA doesn’t slow down their Olympic dreams, and it doesn’t need to slow you down, either. Our expert providers will work with you to find the right action plan for your EIA so you don’t have to give up the activities you love.
EIA is caused by a narrowing of your bronchial tubes, partially blocking them during physical activity. Also called exercise-induced bronchoconstriction (EIB), EIA can occur in patients who show normal lung function at rest. Typically, it affects children and young adults, as well as up to 90% of all patients with asthma.
EIA, despite its name, does not only occur when exercising. All exertion activities–walking, going up stairs, carrying groceries, or chasing your little ones around, can cause an exercise-induced asthma episode. If you are exhibiting any of the symptoms below, it’s time to speak to the Rochester Regional Health Asthma Program.
There are a number of medical conditions that can mimic exercise-induced asthma, including vocal cord dysfunction, emphysema, fibrosis, heart problems, or scarring of the lung. When your Asthma provider conducts your initial evaluation, we will work to rule out any other conditions so we can best treat you.
Most asthma patients develop symptoms before they turn 5. Symptoms include:
EIA symptoms typically occur within 6-10 minutes of exercising starting, peaking 8-15 minutes after activity stops, and are resolved within an hour.
Triggers like environmental factors, pet dander, and pollen can trigger an asthmatic episode. Similarly, there are factors that can aggravate your exercise-induced asthma. Those include:
Your asthma provider will work with you to identify triggers and help you come up with ways to combat and avoid them. Our goal is to make sure that your EIA doesn’t slow you down.
We start with a thorough medical history–including a detailed history of your symptoms, as well as your overall health–and a physical examination. From there, your evaluation will include formal exercise challenges, lung function testing, and breathing tests at both rest and after exercise, if needed.
Based on your diagnosis, your asthma provider will craft a personalized treatment plan. Exercise-induced asthma can be treated successfully and does not need to restrict your ability to exercise.
Exercise-induced asthma treatment is typically divided into two aspects–long-term prevention and short-term treatment. In addition to choosing physical activities carefully, warming up, and restricting exercise during viral infections, these prevention and treatments will help you manage your EIA.
Our program focuses on improving the quality of life after an exercise-induced asthma diagnosis. Long-term prevention means we’re doing more than just treating flares, we’re actively trying to prevent them.
Chronic inflammation of the airways is a defect of asthma, which leads to EIA and other forms of reactive airways. Airway inflammation is typically caused by exposure to allergens that you are allergic to. Reducing the level of allergens in your environment can result in long-term improvement of your EIA. During your evaluation, we will spend time discovering the allergens you are allergic to and helping you find ways to reduce your exposure.
Bronchodilator inhalers, such as albuterol and levalbuterol are the most common treatments for EIA. One or two puffs of these sprays can be used before exercise (5-10 minutes prior) as short-term prevention. They can also be used after exercise or when your symptoms occur. Typically, they’ll alleviate symptoms within minutes. If your symptoms recur or you do not get complete relief within 5-10 minutes, talk to your asthma provider about other treatment options.
If your short-acting treatment options wear off too quickly, long-acting bronchodilator drugs are another option. Often, long-acting bronchodilators are combined with a cortisone spray to give you the best all-around treatment.
