A Turbuhaler is a white cylinder with a coloured base. It is used to deliver medicines in powder form. It has a dose counter window so you can see when it is nearly empty.
This device is appropriate for children over 10 years old. It may be difficult for younger children to have enough flow to get the medicine into the lungs.
Your child can follow these 4 steps when taking medicine with a Turbuhaler.
Unscrew the white cover and take it off the Turbuhaler.
Make sure you do not lose the medicine. You will lose the medicine:
If you lose the medicine, do Step 2 again.
Repeat Steps 2 to 3 if you need to take more puffs.
There are about 20 doses left in your Turbuhaler when the red mark first shows in the window on the side of the Turbuhaler. You need to get a new one from your pharmacy as soon as possible when you see this line. This means you will have a new one ready when the old one runs out. The Turbuhaler is empty when the red mark reaches the bottom of the window.
You cannot tell if the Turbuhaler is empty by shaking it. The sound you hear is the powder that keeps the medicine dry, and not the medicine itself.
Some Turbuhalers have counters that count backwards with each dose.
Sharon Dell, BEng, MD, FRCPC
Bonnie Fleming-Carroll, MN, ACNP, CAE
Jennifer Leaist, RN, BScN
Rishita Peterson, RN, BScN, MN
Gurjit Sangha, RN, MN
James Tjon, BScPhm, PharmD, RPh
1/29/2009