Refills on Albuterol Inhalers

Each albuterol inhaler has 200 puffs. And since we advised patient to give themselves TWO puffs per treatments. There are about 100 "treatments" in one inhaler. Knowing this, I rarely give out more than 1 inhaler at a time (and I rarely give refills). The reason is that I can use the patient's refill history to give me a rough estimate of the patient's asthma control. If the patient is requesting a refill of their albuterol inhaler every three months, that means they are using their inhaler on the average 1 to 2 times a day (definitely not in control). And if they are requesting their refill only after one month, that means that they are using their inhaler at least three times a day! Yikes!

Proper Inhaler Technique Revisited

Now this is the proper (although less funny) technique...

These are the key points that I stress to my patients:

1. Press inhaler after start of inhalation
2. Do a slow inhalation (NOT the quick gasp that you see people do on TV)
3. Hold breath for ten second (or as long as comfortable)
4. Repeat in 1 minute if needed

Proper Inhaler Technique

This a good reminder for those of us who treat asthma...