Asthma Home Remedies...A Natural Alternative

I thought anyone recommending asthma home remedies was nuts when my son was first diagnosed with asthma at about 15 months. But I changed my mind when I realized that the daily breathing treatments were not going away any time soon.

What did I have to lose?

The first step in protecting him from triggers we had not yet identified was to improve our indoor air quality and remove potential irritants as quickly as possible. You can do some of these simple asthma home remedies, too:

• We pulled out the carpeting in his bedroom and replaced it with foam floor puzzle pieces so he could still play on a soft surface. The rest of the house, fortunately, is already hardwood or tile.

• We bought and faithfully used a high-quality air purifier - even bringing it along when we traveled.

• We threw out all potential chemical irritants - especially household cleaners. I've since learned a lot about chemical cleaners in the home and was shocked to find out how LOOOOOONG many of them linger in the air after you've finished cleaning.

• We began a nutritional routine with high-quality supplements, including probiotics (the 'good' bacteria). This was mainly to help his body stay healthy, function at its highest level, and deal with the steroids that he was taking for asthma control.

• We vacuumed and dusted regularly.

• We avoided fragrances in everything from laundry detergents to perfumes.

• We covered his mattress and pillows with anti-allergen cases. Since he used to crawl into our bed after nightmares or when having trouble sleeping (usually because of asthma problems), we covered our own mattress and pillows, too.

• We stopped using a humidifier when he was sick (to avoid mold).

• We avoided exhaust fumes, cigarette smoke, and mold like the plague.

• We restricted our dog's access to the house, even though we didn't think that was one of our son's triggers.

• We consulted his doctor regularly and took him in at the slightest sign of trouble until we learned what wheezing really sounds like and when to give him a breathing treatment.

• We worked with the pediatrician to determine what his major triggers were, but chose not to have him allergy tested. In his case, the triggers turned out to be pretty clear, so we didn't want to have him endure allergy testing if it wasn't really necessary.

• We made sure he got plenty of rest and exercise. (Please note that he does not have exercise-induced asthma - if your child does, consult your doctor about what exercise is appropriate).

• We stayed indoors on 'ozone action days', very hot or very cold days. We also stayed indoors on high pollen count day.

Once the physical changes around the house were complete (like removing stuffed animals, carpeting, etc.), I was ready to find other asthma home remedies to help him avoid the need for breathing treatments.

I was fortunate to have a mom who had spent years learning about the two main areas I'd be focusing on for our son's asthma. Asthma home remedies weren't really what I was after in the beginning. I just wanted to get his breathing under control.

I soon discovered that there were two things I could control in his environment that could affect his breathing issues:

• indoor air quality
• foods and nutrition.

I tackled indoor air quality first.

My mom happened to be watching our 15 month old when he had his first really scary, run-straight-to-the-doctor asthma attack. Once we got through those first hazy days of breathing treatments and doctor visits, she arrived on our doorstep with her prized possession: a whole house air purifier.

Needless to say, it went right to work at our house until we could get one of our own.

The second thing she gave me was a bucket full of organic cleaning products that are non-toxic and all natural. These were very familiar to me, as I'd been raised using them in my parents' home. I was glad to see them and very willing to return to using them because I knew how harmful cleaning chemicals can be. Once they are sprayed and used in the home, they can linger in the air for hours or days.

My first thought was, 'could this have been one of the triggers that set off these asthma symptoms?' The answer is YES. Here's a great link to see how some of these chemicals could be affecting the air quality in your home.

My second 'project' was figuring out how I could improve my child's health with nutrition.

Was this a worthy cause? Absolutely. He always struggles with asthma symptoms when his is sick with respiratory infections or fevers. So, it was obvious to me that I needed to find out how to improve his health enough that his immune system would be able to handle these kinds of viruses and infections.

The first source of great information? My mom, of course. She was a great starting point for basic nutrition information, since she'd been busy reading about it for years. We've since carefully changed our son's diet to reflect what we've learned - nothing overwhelming, just smart and healthy choices that added up to asthma home remedies that actually worked for our kid.

We also pitched our grocery-store-variety-just-full-of-sugar-anyway vitamins and started our little guy on a real multivitamin, and a couple of other ones, that would actually get the promised vitamins into his system.

This is one of my favorite asthma home remedies, because I've seen it work so well. If we build up the immune system, he doesn't get sick as often. And that's so important for him because if he's not sick, he has far fewer asthma symptoms.

Asthma home remedies aren't as off the wall as the idea might sound, and they really helped us get our son's asthma under control.

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