What's an Asthma Flare-Up?
If your child has asthma, he or she might have days with no breathing problems at all. That's probably a relief for both you and your child, because it means that your child's asthma is under control and isn't getting in the way of what your child wants to do. But when symptoms of asthma, such as wheezing, coughing, or shortness of breath, become more severe, more frequent, or both, it's known as an retractions in your child's neck and chest
How Does a Flare-Up Affect My Child's Lungs?
Here's what's happening inside your child's body when an asthma flare-up occurs. In the lungs, there are airways that let air in and out. When someone has asthma, these airways, also called 
What Causes an Asthma Flare-Up?
But why do asthma flare-ups happen? People with asthma have airways that are overly sensitive to certain things that normally don't bother people without asthma. These things are called animal dander
dust mites
mold
cockroaches
A lot of people who have asthma also have allergies. In these people, the Rescue medications often take care of the symptoms pretty quickly. Your child should feel better once the flare-up is over, although it can take several days to completely resolve.
How Can I Predict a Flare-Up?
The severity and duration of asthma flare-ups vary from person to person and even from attack to attack. Flare-ups may happen without warning, with sudden coughing, shortness of breath, and wheezing. But because people with asthma have inflamed airways that worsen with gradual exposure to triggers, flare-ups can also build up over time, especially in people whose asthma isn't well controlled.
Flare-ups can and should be treated at their earliest stages, so it's a good idea to recognize early warning signs that a child might experience just before a flare-up occurs. These clues are unique to each child and may be the same or different with each asthma flare-up. Some early warning signs include:
- coughing, even if your child has no cold
- throat clearing
- rapid or irregular breathing
- unusual fatigue
- trouble sitting or standing still
- restless sleep
A rescue medication, visit the doctor, or even go to the hospital. Having a set of instructions called an Elana Pearl Ben-Joseph, MD
Date reviewed: March 2007