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For people who have been advised by a doctor to use a nebuliser at home, and their carers.

Drawing: A nebuliser with its tubing, cup and mouthpiece, a mask, medicine ampoules, and soapy water for cleaning. — A nebuliser with its tubing, cup and mouthpiece, a mask, medicine ampoules, and soapy water for cleaning.

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Patient's name Date Medicine and dose How often

Add saline

NoYes

If yes, how much saline

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For most people with asthma or COPD, an inhaler with a spacer is easier and works just as well as a nebuliser. Use a nebuliser at home only if a doctor has advised it.

Giving a dose

Wash your hands.
Put the prescribed medicine into the medicine cup. Add sterile saline only if the doctor has told you to. Never add tap water, boiled water or home-made salt water.
Connect the cup to the mouthpiece or mask, and the tubing to the machine.
Sit upright. Keep the cup upright.
Switch on. Breathe normally through the mouth.
Tap the cup now and then. Stop when the mist becomes uneven and the cup makes a spitting sound, usually after 5 to 10 minutes.
After a steroid medicine, rinse your mouth, and wash your face if you used a mask.

A mouthpiece is better than a mask for adults, especially with ipratropium and with steroid medicines. It keeps the mist out of the eyes.

Cleaning

When	What to do
After every use	Take the cup, mouthpiece or mask apart. Wash in warm soapy water, rinse with clean water, shake off, and leave to dry in the air on a clean towel. Run the machine for a few seconds with only the tubing attached to dry it.
Once a week	Disinfect the cup and mouthpiece in the way the maker's leaflet says. Many can be boiled for 5 minutes. Check the leaflet first.
Every 3 to 6 months	Replace the cup, mask, mouthpiece and tubing, as the maker advises. Change the air filter when it looks discoloured.

Do not wash the inside of the tubing. Never share a mask, mouthpiece or cup between two people. A dirty nebuliser can carry infection straight into the lungs.

Get help now if

The nebuliser is not relieving the breathlessness
You cannot speak a full sentence, or your lips are blue
You are exhausted, drowsy or confused

Using a home nebuliser again and again can hide a severe attack and delay treatment. Call 108 or go to the nearest hospital with an emergency department. Caspian has no intensive care unit or ventilator.

See a doctor the same day if

You need the nebuliser more often than every 4 hours
You are using it more days of the week than before

A doctor is on duty at Caspian at all hours.

Also remember

In COPD, a nebuliser driven by air is preferred to one driven by oxygen, unless your doctor has said otherwise.
Have the machine serviced as the maker advises, usually once a year.

Questions about this sheet? Call Caspian Healthcare reception on +91 89193 41154. A doctor is on duty at all hours for problems that are not critical. Caspian has no emergency department: in an emergency call 108.

Where this comes from

Prepared by Caspian Healthcare from the sources above. Last reviewed October 2026. General information: your own doctor's written instructions come first.