STADS Physiotherapy
Asthma in children (0–18 years)
Keep enjoying being active, even with sensitive airways.
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Your child coughs a lot, wheezes when breathing or gets out of breath faster than other children during PE or football. Perhaps your GP or paediatrician has already diagnosed asthma and you’re wondering what your child can do themselves. On this page you can read what asthma is, how it develops, when paediatric physiotherapy can help and when you need help straight away.
What is asthma?
Asthma is a chronic condition of the airways. In children with asthma, the airways are extra sensitive. When triggered, for example by a cold, smoke, cold air, pollen or exercise, they overreact. The small muscles around the airways tighten, the lining swells and more mucus is produced. This narrows the airways and makes breathing, especially breathing out, harder work.
Asthma is common in children and young people. In young children it’s hard to make the diagnosis with certainty, because many toddlers and preschoolers wheeze with a cold without having asthma. The GP or paediatrician makes the diagnosis and prescribes medication if needed, usually inhalers. That medication is the basis of treatment. Paediatric physiotherapy is an addition to it: we help your child manage their breathing well and keep enjoying being active.
What symptoms can your child have?
- Wheezy or whistling breathing, especially when breathing out
- Coughing, often at night, early in the morning or during and after exercise
- A tight or constricted feeling in the chest
- Getting out of breath faster than other children when playing or doing sport
- Tiredness from poor sleep or from coughing
- Avoiding sport or outdoor play for fear of getting short of breath
Symptoms can vary a lot from day to day and from season to season. Between attacks, your child may feel completely well.
What causes asthma?
Why one child develops asthma and another doesn’t isn’t exactly known. Heredity clearly plays a role: if asthma, hay fever or eczema runs in the family, the chance is higher. Children who have eczema or an allergy themselves also develop asthma more often.
There are also triggers that can bring on or worsen symptoms. Think of:
- Colds and other respiratory infections
- Allergens such as house dust mite, pollen or pets
- Cigarette smoke, including second-hand smoke, and air pollution
- Cold or foggy air
- Exercise, such as running or sport (exercise-induced asthma)
- Emotions and tension, such as laughing hard, crying or stress
Sometimes a child with asthma also breathes in a less helpful way: high in the chest, quickly or with their mouth open. That can increase the feeling of breathlessness and can sometimes resemble an asthma attack. Low fitness plays a part too. If you move little because sport makes you breathless, you get out of breath more quickly, which makes it even harder to join in. Good treatment with medication and a gradual build-up of activity can break that cycle.
How long does it take?
Asthma is a chronic condition, but how it develops varies greatly per child. In some children, symptoms lessen as they get older. In others, they stay or come back later. That’s hard to predict in advance.
With the right medication and clear agreements about what to do when symptoms occur, most children with asthma can simply go to school, play and do sport. The aim is for asthma to get in your child’s way as little as possible. Regular check-ups with the GP, practice nurse or paediatrician are part of this, because treatment sometimes needs adjusting.
When should you see a paediatric physiotherapist?
- Your child gets short of breath or tired quickly during sport and play, even though they use their medication properly
- Your child avoids activity or sport for fear of becoming breathless
- Your child often breathes high in the chest, quickly or through the mouth
- Your child is less fit than other children their age
- You’re not sure whether the symptoms during exercise are due to asthma or something else, such as a poor breathing pattern
- Your child wants to learn what they can do themselves when symptoms start
Can’t work it out on your own?
Our physiotherapists and occupational therapists are happy to help. In most cases you can come without a referral, in Eindhoven or Tilburg.
When should you see your GP straight away?
Call your GP, the out-of-hours GP service (huisartsenpost) or 112 straight away if your child:
- Is very short of breath and can barely talk, eat or drink, or not at all
- Gets blue or grey lips or becomes very drowsy
- Is visibly struggling to breathe, with the skin pulling in between the ribs or at the neck
- Gets little or no relief from the reliever inhaler
Also contact your GP if your child needs the reliever inhaler more and more often, wakes up at night from coughing, or if there’s no diagnosis yet.
How STADS helps with asthma
At STADS, we start by listening. How does asthma affect your child, when do the symptoms occur and what would they like to be able to do again? We ask about their medication and the agreements with the GP or paediatrician. Then we look at how your child breathes at rest and during exercise, how they move and how fit they are. With teenagers, we like to discuss this with the young person themselves too.
We explain in plain language what happens in the airways and why exercise sometimes causes breathlessness. That alone is often reassuring. Together with you and your child, we set goals, such as joining in the whole PE lesson again or going for a run without fear.
Treatment mainly consists of exercise. Your child learns calm, relaxed breathing and techniques that help when breathlessness starts or when coughing up mucus. We work step by step on fitness and strength, in a way that suits their age: through play with young children, and more focused on their sport with older children. We pay attention to a good warm-up and to the timing of inhalers around sport, in consultation with the doctor.
Our paediatric physiotherapists work closely with the GP and paediatrician. Paediatric physiotherapy doesn’t replace medical treatment, but it can help your child cope with asthma better. You can read more about breathing and fitness under pulmonary physiotherapy.
What can you do yourself?
- Make sure your child uses their medication as agreed, even when they feel well, and have their inhaler technique checked now and then
- Keep your home and car smoke-free
- Let your child keep moving and doing sport, with a gentle warm-up beforehand
- Make a plan with your GP for what to do if symptoms get worse
- Watch out for triggers that cause symptoms in your child and discuss them with the doctor
- Let your child breathe through their nose if they can, especially in cold air
Good to know
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a referral?
In most cases, no. You can come to our paediatric physiotherapists with your child without a referral. We then start with a short screening to see whether paediatric physiotherapy suits the symptoms. Sometimes we ask for information from the GP, youth doctor or specialist, so our care fits together well. With asthma, we like to know which diagnosis and medication the doctor has given.
Is it covered by my insurance?
For children under 18, paediatric physiotherapy is often (partly) covered by the basic insurance. Exactly how many treatments are covered depends on the condition, your health insurance and sometimes your supplementary package. For some chronic conditions, a different arrangement applies under the basic insurance. For more information, see reimbursements and rates or check your policy.
Can my child with asthma do sport as normal?
Yes, in most cases, and that’s actually a good thing. Exercise improves fitness and self-confidence. What matters is that the asthma is well controlled and that your child does a gentle warm-up. Sometimes the doctor advises taking a puff of the inhaler beforehand. If your child is often short of breath during sport, discuss this with the GP or paediatrician.
Can paediatric physiotherapy replace the inhalers?
No. Medication is the basis of asthma treatment and is prescribed by the GP or paediatrician. Paediatric physiotherapy is an addition. We help your child with relaxed breathing, better fitness and more confidence when moving. Never stop or reduce medication yourself without talking to the doctor.
What’s the difference between asthma and hyperventilation?
With asthma, the airways narrow, which makes breathing out especially difficult and you can often hear wheezing. With hyperventilation, your child breathes faster or deeper than necessary. That can also cause a feeling of breathlessness, with tingling or dizziness. Both can occur at the same time. The doctor and paediatric physiotherapist can help you recognise the difference.
Our locations
Two practices, one team
In Eindhoven and Tilburg, physiotherapists and occupational therapists work together under one roof. Choose the practice that’s easiest for you.
Eindhoven
Centrally located on Geldropseweg, with spacious treatment rooms and a large exercise room. Easy to reach by bike, public transport and car.
Address
Geldropseweg 28
5611 SJ Eindhoven
Free parking behind the building
Tilburg
Right in the heart of the Reeshof, close to the A58 exit. Also easy to reach from the surrounding villages.
Address
Reeshofweg 40
5036 BK Tilburg
Mon to Fri, 08.00–18.00
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