I already know what you're asking yourself: What did that girl do to get so red in the face? Did she just come from the gym, or run a marathon? Unfortunately, the answer is no. My worn-out appearance and dramatic panting is the result of one flight of stairs.

Or maybe you're wondering why I sound so rough and raspy; a girl of my size couldn't possibly speak with a voice so deep, right? Well any sickness, exertion, laughing and/or crying is most likely the cause of my growl - an inescapable cue to everyone around me that something is "terribly wrong".

However, despite the obnoxious look and sound of my on-going, everyday affliction, I'm not coming down with some contagious disease, nor am I on the verge of dying. My airways simply tighten when they're exposed to certain triggers, making it harder for me to breathe from time to time - a common and typically harmless condition called asthma.

Now of course, asthma isn't anything new or revolutionary; nearly 1 out of every 12 Americans experience it to some degree, and most cases are incredibly mild. All the same, asthma's typical symptoms often come off as sickly or bizarre to those who don't have it, warranting this much needed explanation.

First and foremost, a person with mild or moderate asthma can usually do the same things as everybody else: they can run, jump, swim, bike, or any other exercise that labors their breathing. While it's true that the work might feel slightly more intense for an asthmatic, and while it's common for their strain to be more apparent, they'll be okay! If anything, exercise is an important strain that could benefit an asthmatic's health.

Of course, such strenuous work is likely to cause a flare up of asthma symptoms: deep, "barking" coughs, shortness of breath, wheezing while breathing, and the likes. But even though these symptoms might be concerning (or even revolting) to an uninformed onlooker, they're all very habitual. In most cases, all it takes is a puff of an emergency inhaler to reopen the airways and calm those obnoxious symptoms.

That being said, asthma is not a difficult concept to wrap your head around; some people simply have reactive airways that are slightly more sensitive to stimuli. But while wheezing and inhalers are fairly common to most people, some asthma-related ordeals are a bit more bizarre and less commonly known.

For example: nature is a terrible trigger. It seems silly to have to dread the beautiful seasons of Spring and Fall - especially with the excitement of shifting weather and color changes. However, the transformation of trees, plants, mold, pollen, and flowers all wreak havoc on the airways of an asthmatic. It's hard to enjoy the changing nature when your lungs are resenting the abundance of airborne allergens!

All the same, it usually doesn't matter what measures you take to stay healthy during those risky months. Too often, an asthmatic will feel the faintest gripe - a runny nose, a tickling throat, or a sneeze - and know that an assault is coming. For an asthmatic, any type of sickness turns into a long and dramatic ordeal; I personally become ill for entire months since my asthma bolsters any cold into bronchitis, pneumonia, or endless respiratory infections. And yet, the physical sickness is not even the worst of the experience.

Once asthma symptoms have grown past the point of improving through the puff of an inhaler, the nebulizer comes out: a large, noisy machine that administers longer treatments of vaporized medicine through a face mask (and yes, it's as burdensome and embarrassing as it sounds). There's nothing worse than waking up from a labored sleep to begin another clockwork nebulizer treatment, but as is the life of an asthmatic.

Obviously, living with asthma is a little more complicated than simply "getting out of breath" from time to time. There are special doctor's visits, different medicines, precautions to take, and symptoms that are irritating to everybody involved. All the same, it's a very common and manageable disease to live with, regardless of the external look and sound!