How to get the Right Dose from your Metered Dose Inhaler (MDI) ?

There are three important factors that can easily affect the dosage of medicine received from your MDI inhaler and they are mentioned in details as below:-

Loss of Priming: Most of the Asthma patients who use MDI inhalers often keep several inhalers around the house or their office as a backup medicine and it’s always handy to have it around. Keeping too many such inhalers can lead to infrequent inhaler activation and loss of prime. Usually the Loss of prime occurs when the inhaler’s propellant evaporates, escapes or gets blocked in the metered chamber after days or weeks of non use. If you have not used your inhaler recently, press the canister and release the medicine in the air few times (2-3 times) before using it to make sure that there is no blockage and that medicine is present in the inhaler so that you receive the full potency of your medication each time.

Tail- off: In a misguided attempt to economize, many inhaler users try to squeeze every last drop of medication from their MDI inhalers. However research indicates that this practice many actually contribute to the rise in Asthma deaths and poor quality of life for some Asthma patients because of a phenomenon known as tail-off. As the inhaler reaches its empty stage, dose reliability becomes increasingly unpredictable and unreliable. Therefore, we suggest do not use your MDI inhalers beyond the labeled number of does, even if you think that some medication remains.

Incorrect use of inhalers: Millions of Asthma patients breathe easier thanks to inhalers, but properly using these devices is crucial to their success. Many patients experience difficulty controlling their Asthma because they use their inhalers incorrectly. When prescribing an inhaled medication, you need to make sure that you have learned the correct inhaler technique and practice enough to take the actual medicine effectively into your lungs.