Caption

Nebulizer for asthma relief. Young girl breathes into the face mask of a nebulizer to relieve her symptoms of asthma. The nebulizer delivers a fine spray of an asthma drug into the face mask and then into the throat and bronchial tubes. The drug is usually a bronchodilator which reduces constriction in the airways of the lungs that accompanies an asthmatic attack. An electric or hand-operated pump sends a stream of air or oxygen across a chamber containing the drug, dispersing it into a fine mist. Nebulizers are often used to treat emergency asthma attacks. Most patients find them easier to use than a conventional inhaler.