There's a right way and a wrong way to do anything. How you use your inhaler is no exception.

The key to successfully opening your airways to ensure that the asthma medication reaches your lungs is to either stand or sit upright. This helps to expand the lungs. Tilting your head back slightly to extend the neck can further help to open the airway and improve delivery of the medicine.

Back in 2015 in a study on children with exercise-induced asthma, using this technique delayed the onset of symptoms from 1.6 minutes to 2.5 minutes in an exercise challenge. The Dutch researchers also found that tilting the head led to less medication ending in the oropharynx (at the back of the mouth), reducing the risk of coughing, hoarseness or oral thrush.