Dry powder inhalers (DPIs) contain a dose of asthma medication in a dry powder form. DPIs deliver a fine powder to the lungs when the patient breathes in (picture 4). With a DPI, you do not need to coordinate squeezing the canister and inhaler. However, you must inhale more forcefully with a DPI than with a traditional inhaler. Thus, DPIs may not be suitable for elderly people or people with nerve or muscle weakness. Also, it is important not to blow (exhale) directly into the device before breathing in, as this can scatter the medicine before it can be inhaled.
Examples of DPIs include the quick relief medication Foradil, the controller medications Asmanex and Pulmicort Flexhaler, and the combination inhalers Advair and Symbicort. Spiriva is a DPI that contains a long acting medication to treat people with COPD, but is occasionally used for asthma.