Bronchial Spasm - Asthma Message Board

robin257 · 08-06-2008, 06:57 PM

my son was exposed to a bleach water solution and ever since then he has experienced episodes of spasms, especially during athletic activities. He as been tested for allergies and has none and has never had any problems before his bleach exposure and I am wondering if this exposure has caused a bronchial spasm condition since he has never had an issue before this and he has always been a 3 sport athlete who never had a problem but now if coughing uncontrollably in all three of his sports and sometimes collapses due to the pain in his chest and the coughing. He has been checked by a cardiologist and is fine cardiac wise. If it was the irritation from the bleach do you think this could be long lasting (it has been over a year now) and permanent.

gcsjr · 08-06-2008, 07:28 PM

I'm not sure why you're connecting what's happening to him to exposure to a bleach and water solution but it sounds like he's experiencing Exercised Induced Asthma which is a fairly common condition among athletes.

You should really get him to see a Pulmonologist as soon as possible. Exercised Induced Asthma can usually be managed easily with a pre-activity inhaler or one of the other inhaled asthma medications.

Titchou · 08-06-2008, 07:46 PM

Absolutely agree. Get him to a pulmonologist. EIA can be easily controlled.

robin257 · 08-06-2008, 09:43 PM

The reason why I am relating it to the bleach exposure is because we have only had this problem since that incident. We have never experienced problems in the past and he has always been playing sports 10 months out of every year.

gcsjr · 08-07-2008, 04:54 AM

If he had some kind of reaction to the bleach exposure it's remotely possible that it triggered an asthma attack. Regardless of what the initial trigger was, asthma isn't caused by a single event. Most researchers believe that a combination of genetic and environmental factors lead to some people having airways that are more prone to getting inflamed when they're exposed to allergens, exercise or a variety of other possible triggers.

Asthma can't be "cured" but most people's asthma can be managed with medications (and some children who have asthma seem to outgrow it).

The best thing you can do for your son is to get him to a pulmonologist for testing and to develop an asthma management plan. For Exercised Induced Asthma treatment can be as simple as using an Albuterol inhaler 20 minutes before his practices or games to help keep his airways open and avoid the coughing and chest tightness.