How to Use Your Dry Powder Inhaler (Adults)

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For single-dose inhalers, you load a dose by taking a pill out of its packaging and putting the pill into the inhaler. Then you need to push 1 or more buttons on the inhaler to poke holes in the pill.

For multiple-dose inhalers, you load a dose by sliding a lever or twisting the bottom (or another part) of the inhaler.

Hold your inhaler in the correct position " Some inhalers need to be held upright, but others need to be horizontal. Multiple-dose inhalers usually need to be horizontal.

Breathe out normally " but not into the inhaler

Put your mouth on the mouthpiece

Breathe in quickly and steadily, and as deeply as possible

Remove your mouth from the mouthpiece and hold your breath for 5 to 10 seconds

Let your breath out " but not into the inhaler

For single-dose inhalers, open the inhaler, take out the used pill, and throw it away

If you are supposed to take 2 puffs of your inhaler, load another dose and breathe it in

Close your inhaler or replace the cover or cap

Rinse your mouth out with water, gargle, and spit out the water

Store your inhaler in a cool, dry place

Do I need to clean my inhaler? " No. Do not wash a dry powder inhaler with water or put it under water. If the mouthpiece gets dirty, you can wipe it with a dry cloth.
How do I know when my inhaler is empty? " Many dry powder inhalers come with a built-in dose counter. A counter keeps track of how many doses are left in your inhaler.
When the counter reads 0 (zero), its time to throw out the inhaler because it has no more medicine in it. Make sure to have another inhaler on hand before the counter reads 0.
If your inhaler doesn't have a built-in counter, you need to keep track of the number of doses left in your inhaler. Based on how often you use your inhaler, you can figure out when you will need a refill and write this date down.
All topics are updated as new evidence becomes available and our peer review process is complete.
This topic retrieved from UpToDate on: Nov 04, 2014.
Topic 16114 Version 2.0
Release: 22.8 - C22.208
© 2014 UpToDate, Inc. All rights reserved.

picture 1

Dry powder inhalers

These are pictures of different dry powder inhalers. The inhalers shown are: (A) Aerolizer, (B) HandiHaler, (C) Flexhaler, (D) Diskus, and (E) Twisthaler. There are two main types of dry powder inhalers, called single-dose inhalers and multiple-dose inhalers. The Aerolizer and HandiHaler are single-dose inhalers. The others in the picture are multiple-dose inhalers.

Courtesy of Dean Hess, RRT, PhD.

Graphic 67084 Version 5.0

View Originalpicture 1

Dry powder inhalers

Courtesy of Dean Hess, RRT, PhD.

Graphic 67084 Version 5.0

View Original

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This information is not specific medical advice and does not replace information you receive from your health care provider. This is only a brief summary of general information. It does NOT include all information about conditions, illnesses, injuries, tests, procedures, treatments, therapies, discharge instructions or life-style choices that may apply to you. You must talk with your health care provider for complete information about your health and treatment options. This information should not be used to decide whether or not to accept your health care providers advice, instructions or recommendations. Only your health care provider has the knowledge and training to provide advice that is right for you.The use of UpToDate content is governed by the UpToDate Terms of Use. ©2014 UpToDate, Inc. All rights reserved.

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How to Use Your Dry Powder Inhaler (Adults)

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