Nebulizer for Asthma Treatment

A nebulizer is sometimes used for asthma because:

• The medicine can be given over a longer period of time.
• It may be easier to use for small children or for people who have serious difficulty breathing or have trouble using an inhaler.

A nebulizer uses a face mask or mouthpiece to deliver medicine in the form of a fine mist (aerosol). You breathe in the nebulized medicine through the mouthpiece or face mask . The mouthpiece or face mask needs to be cleaned after each use.

In general, a nebulizer may not always be the best choice for delivering daily asthma medicines to children because it:

• Is hard to keep the mask on the child's face for the length of time needed for each treatment.
• Can be more expensive to use than a metered-dose inhaler (MDI).
• Can deliver more medicine than is needed, compared with an inhaler and a spacer . This makes it easier to give a child too much medicine.
• Has tubing that needs to be replaced every 3 to 6 months.