Better Health Outcomes with Every Breath

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WHY USE A SPACER?

· Using a spacer helps increase the amount of the medicine that reaches the small airways in the lungs, compared with using a puffer on its own. 

· The local side effects of inhaled medications are reduced because less of the medication sticks in the mouth and throat - reducing the risk of developing oral thrush (an infection caused by the build-up of the fungus Candida in your mouth and throat), fast heart rate and tremor which can be caused by Preventer or Reliever medications. 

· Easier to coordinate pressing your puffer and breathing in at the same time, especially in an emergency.

WHO SHOULD USE A SPACER

Everyone who uses a puffer for their medication is recommended to use a spacer: adults, adolescents, and most essentially young children.

If you are using a puffer to take your asthma medication, it should always be used in conjunction with a spacer, regardless of whether you are taking your daily preventer or using your blue reliever during an emergency.

It has been suggested that using a spacer with your reliever medicine in an asthma flare-up is as effective as or even better than using a nebuliser due to being faster, easier, and the medicine can be administered in a lower dose (thereby less likely to cause unwanted side effects).