Community Pediatric Asthma Service

Asthma Triggers
Some things irritate your lungs and make your asthma worse--these are called your asthma triggers. Some triggers may be in your life each day. When you spend a lot of time near your triggers, it is more difficult to keep your asthma controlled and to feel better.
More About Triggers
There are two main types of triggers for asthma:
- triggers that cause swelling (inflammation) and mucous on the inside of airways
- triggers that cause tightening (constriction) of the muscles around the outside of the airways
Less often people have other triggers (shown as OTHERS on the diagram above). This is why it is important that each person with asthma learn to recognize their own individual triggers.
There are some common triggers that make asthma worse for many people. All your triggers may not be on this list. It's important to know your own triggers so that you can limit contact with them as much as possible. If you are unsure about your inflammatory triggers like animal dander, pollen, grass, discuss having an allergy test with your doctor.
More Information
- Breathe Easy Triggers, Asthma Canada
- Indoor and Outdoor triggers
- Pets, asthma and allergies
- Tips on how to Avoid Triggers (video)
- 3 Ways to improve your indoor air quality
- Air Quality Index provides air quality including forest fire smoke and air pollution in your area
- Wildfire Smoke: How do you prepare for smoke coming to your area?
- Asthma & Allergy Friendly Certified Products
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Material on this website has been designed for information purposes only. It should not be used in place of medical advice, instruction and/or treatment.
If you have specific questions, please consult your doctor or appropriate health care professional.