Emergency warning.
If you have severe breathlessness, chest pain that does not ease, blue lips, confusion or are coughing up a lot of blood, call
108
or go to the nearest emergency department immediately.
Devices differ. Always follow the leaflet that comes with your inhaler and the advice of your doctor or pharmacist. Ask them to watch you use your device.
Pressurised inhaler with spacer
A pressurised metered-dose inhaler (pMDI) used with a spacer.
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Remove the cap and check the mouthpiece is clean. Shake the inhaler.
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Attach it to the spacer.
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Sit or stand upright and breathe out gently.
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Put the spacer mouthpiece in your mouth and close your lips around it.
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Press the inhaler once.
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Breathe in slowly and deeply, or breathe in and out normally for 4–6 breaths through the spacer.
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Hold your breath for about 10 seconds, or as long as is comfortable.
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If you need another puff, wait about a minute and repeat from step 1.
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If your inhaler contains a preventer medicine, rinse your mouth afterwards and spit out the water.
Dry-powder inhaler
A breath-activated device that delivers powdered medicine.
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Prepare the dose exactly as the instructions for your device describe.
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Breathe out gently, away from the device.
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Place the mouthpiece between your teeth and close your lips around it.
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Breathe in quickly and deeply through the mouth.
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Remove the device and hold your breath for about 10 seconds, or as long as is comfortable.
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Breathe out slowly, away from the device.
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Close or reset the device as instructed.
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If your inhaler contains a preventer medicine, rinse your mouth afterwards and spit out the water.
Common mistakes
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Not shaking a pressurised inhaler before use
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Breathing in too fast with a spacer, or pressing more than one puff at a time
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Breathing out into a dry-powder device
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Not holding the breath after inhaling
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Not rinsing the mouth after a preventer inhaler
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Missing doses, or stopping without advice