Top 10 Common Inhaler Mistakes That Make Your Medication Less Effective

Top 10 Common Inhaler Mistakes

Every single puff that you take from your inhaler devices offers you a precise dose of medicine that’s been designed to help, but it won’t actually fulfill its purpose if your inhaler technique is not effective. The medicine has to actually land in your airways and travel to the lungs instead of maybe sticking to your mouth or tongue. These minor technique mistakes may seem small, but they can actually lead to little to no medicine reaching your lungs. That’s where problems start arising. Read our inhaler usage tips and see if you are making the same mistakes or not.

Not shaking the inhaler before use

Before you even get to the breathing and posture techniques, the most important is how you prepare the inhaler before use. Most metered dose inhalers also called MDIs, have a mix of your medicine and a propellant, i.e., a component that’s supposed to push the medicine into your lungs. Before each and every puff, both of these components have to be thoroughly mixed.

Some individuals may shake their inhalers just a few times and might think that has blended them well enough. However, if not shaken well, then the inhaler won’t be able to deliver the medicine properly. Maybe you’ll just get the propellant and not the thing your lungs actually need. This is why it’s very imperative that you shake your inhaler firmly at least 10-15 times before you have to use it so that you’re able to maximize its effectiveness. This is just the first step, yet it takes more technique than people would like to think, and that’s why it’s important to be discussed when we talk about some common inhaler mistakes.

In combination inhalers that are used to treat asthma and COPD, this becomes really important because the bronchodilator and steroid components both play a role and need to be blended properly.

Forgetting to prime the inhaler

The most important thing to do, even before you take your first puff, is to prime your inhaler properly. When you prime your inhaler properly, you’re making sure that the medication and propellant are mixed properly and you’re not just getting a puff of the propellant. To prime your inhaler, shake it well like we’ve advised and spray it into the air 1-2 times.

This is a pretty important step for new inhalers, or inhalers that haven’t been used since 7-14 days.

Not exhaling fully before using the inhaler

Air takes up a lot of space in our lungs, much more than we typically estimate. If you start taking the puffs without breathing out first, then you’d just be working with lungs that are already half-filled. Taking puffs without fully exhaling makes the inhalation very shallow, and not enough vacuum is created for the medicine to get into the airways. 

A general guideline around this is to sit or stand up in an upright manner with no slouching. To breathe out fully and then inhale the medicine slowly and deeply. These simple posture mistakes when using asthma inhalers also account for a lot of weightage. These common inhaler mistakes can quickly reduce the effectiveness of your medicine by a lot.

Breathing in too quickly or too soon

Another one of the most common inhaler mistakes that people end up making is that they inhale too soon, which is why most of their medicine ends up landing in their mouth and throat instead of their lungs. Others may press the inhaler a little too late. When they end up pressing the canister, they have already started to inhale, which is why the spray never ends up catching up with the airflow. This is a common problem with MDIs, the correct way is to inhale a slow and steady breath and press the inhaler when you start breathing in.

For dry powder inhalers also known as DPIs, the technique is very different. You must inhale very strongly and quickly and essentially suck the powder out of the device.

Not holding your breath after inhaling

When you inhale your medicine, it needs a few seconds to essentially stick to your airway lining in a way. If you don’t hold your breath and immediately exhale after taking a puff, then it’s possible that most of your medication could be blown back out of your mouth and essentially get lost in the air. This too is one of the most common inhaler mistakes that people end up making, but it has an easy solution!

It’s generally advised to hold your breath for about 10-15 seconds after you are done inhaling the medicine to let it fully sit and for your lungs to get the most of it. 

Skipping the Spacer (when it is needed)

A spacer is a clear tube that is used to hold the medication for you so that you can breathe it in at your own slow and steady pace. Spacers have been designed for MDIs, and when it holds the medication, the person gets enough time to fully deposit the medicine into their lungs and not their mouth and throat.

Spacers are very effective, and they help greatly in minimizing side effects like throat irritation or oral thrush. Many adults think that they don’t need spacers and end up skipping it, especially outside the hospital. Not using spacers may not be on the top of the list of common inhaler mistakes, but it surely makes using an inhaler easier and more effective.

It is typically suggested that you use a spacer for your MDIs unless they have been optimized with the DPI design.

Incorrect breathing

What some people may end up doing is that they may press the inhaler once and then take multiple breaths instead of a steady breath. What also commonly happens is that individuals end up pressing the inhaler multiple times instead of waiting between the puffs. If the spacer is being used, then it gets filled with medication at once, which can overload it or give time for fine mist to settle in there and not get into your lungs.

If the spacer is being used, then wait for 30-60 seconds before you press the inhaler again. Without a spacer, give the inhaler a good shake and then press it again. Make sure that there is an interval of 30-60 seconds, any which way, between the administrations.

Not waiting between puffs

While we’re on the topic of breathing and breaks between puffs. Along with pressing the inhaler repeatedly, what people can also do is take a puff and then go on to take another in very quick succession, with no proper break.

We spoke about how there should be a good 30-60 second interval. If you rush to get your second puff in quick succession, then the propellant may not get enough time to mix with the medicine, or the inhaler may flood your airways with too much medicine at once, which you won’t be able to steadily breathe in and will go to waste. The better practice is to wait a whole minute and then go for your second puff.

Bad posture or Tilting the inhaler

As we’ve mentioned before, having the correct posture is also key to a successful inhaler use. Some individuals may do it to get the angle right, but instead of tilting the inhaler, you can try to tilt your chin a little upward and keep the inhaler upright. If the inhaler is tilted, then the medicine can end up getting sprayed against the side of the plastic holder rather than entering the mouth and into the airways. When you tilt your chin upward, it aligns the mouthpiece with the back of your throat properly.

With dry powder inhalers as well, holding them at any odd angle can block the powder chambers or leave the dosing incomplete. Any kind of slouching or lying down really minimizes the expansion of your lungs and constricts the airways.

To avoid making these common inhaler mistakes that are easily avoidable, try to sit up straight and keep the inhaler upright as well. Seal your lips around the mouthpiece properly and keep your tongue down so that the medication reaches your lungs properly.

Using empty or expired inhalers

With a lot of MDIs, people don’t notice that their inhaler is empty or very close to being empty. Some people also sometimes keep an old inhaler in their bag for probable situations where they might have to use it. What can happen is that the inhaler can just face a sad fate and expire while waiting in your bag. Inhalers that are empty or have expired hardly have or release any amount of medicine. If you keep this inhaler on you for emergency purposes, then it likely will all be in vain because the inhaler won’t actually be able to help in these emergency situations.

Always check the dose counter on your inhaler and check the expiry dates before you keep it in your emergency kit. Although some inhalers may not have the dose counter, and that actually makes it pretty difficult to figure out if they’re empty or not. In those cases, it is typically recommended to manually track your puffs, maybe with a written log if that helps.

Final Thoughts

These were some of the most common inhaler mistakes that people may end up making while using theirs. They seem pretty minor but end up having a lot of impact on your health. It’s also cost-effective to pay heed to them since this can save you your medicine as well. Paying attention to these and reading up on how to use the inhaler correctly step by step can really help you use your device effectively.