The blue inhaler is the iconic asthma inhaler, and most people will be able to distinctly recognise it. This is also called the reliever inhaler, as it should only be used if symptoms present, or if the person is having an asthma attack. However, like the brown preventative inhalers, these must be administered correctly, and the doctor or asthma specialist will show the person how to do this, upon prescription. Again, like with brown inhalers, there are three main types of inhaler: MDIs, DPIs and BAIs. This may be obvious to some, but remember that the inhaler cannot be used if you do not have it on your person, or in a nearby safe space. If you have been prescribed a reliever inhaler, make sure to always keep it near you, if not preferably on your person. This makes sure that you always have it near you in case of an emergency.
The drugs inside of blue reliever inhalers are called bronchodilators. When they reach the lungs via inhaling, they relax the muscles surrounding the airway passageways: the bronchi and bronchioles. The two main bronchodilator drugs found within blue inhalers are called salbutamol and terbutaline. In terms of both function and effectiveness, there is not much difference between the two, with the only main difference being that salbutamol is less expensive. With both the preventative and reliever inhalers, it is important to remember that they can come in different variants, for example, their names and/or colours may not be normal, and some may not even be shaped like normal inhalers. A common example of this is the Accuhaler, which is disc-shaped.
For more details on Asthma visit our video online training course at www.proasthma.co.uk