Your Treatment Plan
Goals of Treatment
- Minimal or no chronic symptoms day or night.
- Minimal or no episodes of acute asthma attacks.
- Peak expiratory flow (PEF) greater than 80 percent of personal best.
- Minimal use of inhaled or short acting beta-agonist (less than once a day).
- No or minimal adverse effects from medication.
How to use a zone chart
A zone chart is a colored guide to taking medication depending on the severity of an attack.
Your doctor will show you how to use a zone chart. The doctor will show you how to measure your peak flow. This is the first step. The zones are:
| Green Zone: |
> 80% of expected peak flow |
| Yellow Zone: |
50%-80% of peak flow |
| Red Zone: |
< 50% of expected peak flow |
Your doctor will write medications for each zone which will help you determine what medication you should use on any given day. This allows you to change or modify your treatment depending on how your airways are on that particular day.
For example, in the Green Zone, take your controller medication according to your doctor's instructions.
If you were to dip into the Yellow Zone, the doctor might instruct you to begin use of beta agonists and increase inhaled steroids.
The Red Zone is a medical emergency. Your doctor will likely tell you what to do immediately and then to contact him or her for further instructions. If you are not improving with instructions given by your doctor and you are not able to contact your doctor, seek immediate medical care.
Once you use your peak flow meter and measure your daily peak flow, you should check your zone diagram to see what medications you need to take that day and then plot your peak flow on the zone graph.
NOTE: The zone chart and staging of severity are different. With any kind of asthma, you may be in any of the zones on a certain day.
More on Asthma in Children Treatments for Asthma
How to Use a Peak Flow Meter
This article was reviewed and updated June 2007.
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