Get Ahead of Flares (Free Download)

Most flares are not bolts from the blue. They get decided in a specific window, before the wheeze is loud, in one of three situations: a bad-air day, the first day or two of a cold, and hard exercise. This is the pre-empt move for each. Keep the section handy for the situation you are in, and catch the flare while it is still cheap to stop.

When the air is bad

Air quality is one of the few triggers that comes with a free daily forecast. Put the number where you already look (long-press the Lock Screen → Customize → Weather → Air Quality, or add the same complication to an Apple Watch face), and it also rides along on every entry you log with the Ten-Second Log, so you never track it by hand. Then turn the number into a decision:

When a cold is starting (the first 48 hours)

For most kids the flare engine is an ordinary cold, and the first day or two is when it either stays a cold or turns into a flare. Have this ready before the sniffles start, agreed with your clinician, so you are not improvising on day one. The reasoning is in For Most Kids, the Flare Is a Cold.

Hour zero (first sign of a cold):

• ☐ Start the early-cold plan your clinician set (some step up the controller or start a specific medicine at the first sign, do not invent this).
• ☐ Make sure the rescue inhaler and spacer are where you can grab them.
• ☐ Open the log (the Ten-Second Log makes it one tap).

The first 48 hours, check a few times a day for a cold becoming a flare:

• ☐ Cough getting more frequent or worse at night.
• ☐ Wheeze, or breathing that looks faster or more effortful.
• ☐ Rescue inhaler needed more than the plan's green-zone amount.
• ☐ Peak flow drifting down (if you track it).

Any of these means you are in the yellow zone: follow the action plan, do not wait to "see how it goes."

Ease the cold itself: aim for 40 to 50% indoor humidity (a cheap hygrometer tells you), a clean cool-mist humidifier in dry winter air can ease the cough (empty and dry it daily), and keep hydration and rest up so mucus stays thin. Do not over-humidify past about 50%, that feeds mold and dust mites.

Before sport

Exercise is a trigger you should not avoid, because the goal is a kid who plays, not one who sits out. The prep is what makes that safe. Keep this in the sports bag with the inhaler, and set the medicine timing with your clinician. The reasoning is in The Trigger You Shouldn't Avoid.

Before activity:

• ☐ Warm up 10 to 15 minutes using short bursts with rests, or effort that climbs to genuinely hard (steady easy jogging was tested and did not hold up).
• ☐ Pre-exercise reliever (only if prescribed), the exact medicine, puffs, and timing your plan sets, typically 15 to 20 minutes before.
• ☐ Inhaler in the bag, courtside. The coach knows where it is.
• ☐ Cold, dry air? A scarf or buff over the nose and mouth.

During and after:

• ☐ Symptoms mid-activity? Stop. Reliever per the plan, then rest. Do not push through.
• ☐ Cool down gradually, do not stop dead.
• ☐ Needing the reliever most sessions? Log it and raise it at the next visit. That usually means better daily control, not less sport.

Where this fits: operationalizes Your Child's Airways Have a Weather Forecast, For Most Kids, the Flare Is a Cold, and The Trigger You Shouldn't Avoid. The sport-by-sport read is in No Sport Is Off the Table. Part of The Asthma Toolkit.

Make it yours, then print it. The printable below has the fill-in fields this page deliberately leaves out: the pre-treat medicine and dose, this child's "stay-in" AQI band, the early-cold step-up, the clinic number, and the pre-exercise medicine and timing. Fill those in from the plan your clinician set, then print a copy for each spot you will actually reach for it: the sports bag, the fridge before cold season.