THIS image was posted online as the leading image for an article on the news this week. The original story was about the breakthrough new asthma treatment.
I’m rarely prompted to write a reply in this way, but to be honest I was quite angry when I saw this. The story is about the new potential asthma drug currently being developed. The image, however, shows the gentleman demonstrating extremely poor inhaler technique.
He has actuated the metered dose inhaler outside his mouth. One of the key steps to using a metered dose inhaler like this is to create a tight seal around the inhaler and co-ordinate the inhalation with a long slow, steady breath in.
It would be great if the author of the piece acknowledged this error and the importance of good inhaler technique. Below I have referenced a number of blogs from our site pip.scot where pharmacists and others outline the importance of good inhaler technique in the control of many respiratory diseases including asthma.
I hope the videos below courtesy of Asthma UK provide some clarification on the importance of good inhaler technique.
https://pharmacyinpractice.uk/2016/03/25/how-to-use-a-metered-dose-inhaler/
https://pharmacyinpractice.uk/2016/03/25/how-to-use-a-turbohaler/
https://pharmacyinpractice.uk/2016/03/25/how-to-use-an-accuhaler/
https://pharmacyinpractice.uk/2016/03/25/how-to-use-an-easi-breathe-inhaler/
https://pharmacyinpractice.uk/2016/03/25/how-to-use-an-autohaler/
https://pharmacyinpractice.uk/2016/03/25/how-to-use-a-small-volume-spacer/
https://pharmacyinpractice.uk/2016/03/25/how-to-use-a-large-volume-spacer/
https://pharmacyinpractice.uk/2016/03/25/how-to-use-a-spacer-with-a-child/