Spacers are great tools, especially with inhalers lately. Many people have had changes in their inhalers. The older inhalers used a different type of gas, or what we called a CFC gas. That was actually banned last year due to environmental laws. So inhalers that people would use for their asthma have actually changed, and now they’ll see the letters “HFA” after them.

There are some differences, and one of the biggest ones is the fact that the spray comes out differently.

So I’ve had a lot of patients come back telling me that their medication doesn’t work or, well, the other thing I found out is that they’re not really using their inhaler the right way. They have to retrain themselves.

The spacer’s a great opportunity, especially for children or older adults who may not have a steady hand and can’t coordinate their breathing the right way. It’s a plastic tube, and you put the inhaler on one end and your mouth on the other, and when you spray it the medication goes into this chamber and therefore you can breathe in and out and get your breathing down; so therefore the medication travels to where it needs to go.

It’s well worth the money. I know sometimes a lot of people don’t wanna purchase it, because it’s usually not covered under insurance; but they’re washable and they’re really great, and with the kids they come with a little fun mask or little, you know, cartoons on it to make it seem like, you know, it’s not this traumatic experience. But they really do benefit in helping people get the right amount of medication.

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