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| Home > Helping a Loved One > Asthma and Children > Peak Flow Meters for Children |
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An asthma peak flow meter is a tool that measures how fast air moves out of your child's lungs. During an asthma attack, the airways tighten and become more narrow. The peak flow meter can be used to find out if your child's airways are getting narrower, often even before your child has any asthma symptoms. This is why it is important for your child to use a peak flow meter as directed by his or her healthcare professional so you can monitor your child's status.
An asthma peak flow meter may help you:
- Decide if your child is starting to have an asthma attack.
- Learn what makes your child's asthma worse.
- Decide when to seek emergency care.
- Decide if your child's asthma attack has been brought under control.
Ask your child's healthcare professional how your child should use a peak flow meter. Here are some general guidelines:
- Move the marker to 0 or to the lowest point/position on the scale.
- Have your child stand. If he/she can't stand, be sure he/she is sitting up straight. Make sure he/she is in the same position each time he/she tests.
- Have your child take in as deep a breath as he/she can.
- Put the mouthpiece of the peak flow meter in his/her mouth between the teeth. Have your child close his/her lips tightly around it. Be sure the tongue does not block the opening. Have your child blow into the mouthpiece once, as hard and as fast as he/she can, as if blowing out candles on a birthday cake. Remember, it is the speed of the blow that is being measured.
- Take the peak flow meter out of the child's mouth. Look at the marker. It will have moved along the numbered scale. Write this number down. Move the marker back to 0 or to the lowest point/position on the scale.
- Repeat the test 2 more times. Record the highest of the 3 readings.
Based on the Asthma Action Plan developed by your child's healthcare professional, you can use your child's peak flow readings to help tell what asthma zone he/she is in: green (his/her asthma is under control), yellow (caution), or red (danger—get help from a healthcare professional). If you keep track of what zone your child is in, you can tell when his/her asthma is getting out of control so you can do something about it.
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