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What To Know About Wheezing
Wheezing can occur with asthma, bronchitis, and other respiratory disorders that cause narrow airways. Doctors may prescribe an inhaler to relieve wheezing. Home remedies may also offer some relief.
Since so many conditions can cause wheezing, people should speak with a doctor to diagnose the underlying cause if they experience concerning symptoms.
People should seek emergency medical help if they experience chest pain and sudden difficulty breathing.
Wheezing happens when blockages or inflammation of a person's airways makes their breathing sound like whistling or squeaking. Various conditions can cause this symptom.
Wheezing can occur when someone is breathing out, breathing in, or both. If a person experiences a wheezing sound when breathing out, it typically means they are only exhaling at around half their usual capacity.
The duration and severity of wheezing may depend on where in the airways a blockage occurs.
Wheezing typically causes a high-pitched whistling or musical sound that aligns with a person's breathing.
However, it can vary in volume, duration, and pitch depending on the characteristics and severity of the obstruction in the airways.
Doctors will typically need a stethoscope to listen to wheezing during a diagnosis. In some cases, they may be able to hear wheezing without a stethoscope.
There are many different causes of wheezing. A person's age, health condition, and environment can alter their risk of wheezing.
Some potential causes include:
Depending on the cause of wheezing, people may also experience other symptoms, including discomfort when breathing or a choking sensation.
Causes in babies and childrenNewborns breathe only through the nose, so when they experience congestion or are in the wrong position, they may make a wheezing or squeaking sound.
Wheezing in children is common. Around 1 in 3 children experience wheezing before 3 years of age.
However, lower respiratory infections, such as bronchiolitis, can also cause wheezing in babies and children. Wheezing may also result from other conditions, such as asthma, physical blockages, and allergies.
Wheezing is a symptom rather than a condition. To determine the cause of a person's wheezing, a doctor will assess current symptoms, review the patient's medical history, and perform a thorough physical examination.
They may want to determine the following:
Doctors may order various tests to determine the cause of wheezing, including:
Doctors will treat the underlying cause of wheezing to reduce symptoms. This may involve medications or home management:
MedicationsIn the short term, bronchodilators can reduce the severity of symptoms. Bronchodilators help relax the lungs and prevent the airways from narrowing. They can help with wheezing caused by COPD and asthma.
In the case of wheezing from allergies, allergen medications such as antihistamines and immunotherapy can help.
Immunotherapy is a process of retraining the immune system not to react to allergens. The most common form of immunotherapy is allergy shots.
A wide variety of medications can treat wheezing due to an underlying illness. For example, a person who experiences wheezing due to a severe allergic reaction may require epinephrine or corticosteroids.
Home remedies for wheezingHome remedies will not treat every cause of wheezing. If a person has asthma or another medical condition that causes wheezing, they should speak with their doctor and use any prescription medications, such as an asthma inhaler.
The following home treatments for wheezing aim to open the airways, reduce the irritants or pollution that a person breathes in, or treat the underlying causes.
Home remedies for wheezing may include:
Discover 10 home remedies for wheezing.
It may be difficult to diagnose the cause of wheezing based on symptoms alone, and a person should see their doctor if wheezing is causing concern.
If a person experiences any of the following, they should go to the emergency room:
What is wheezing a symptom of?Wheezing is a common symptom of asthma. However, it can occur due to any type of airway blockage or restriction. Other conditions that may cause wheezing include respiratory infections, allergies, and COPD.
How to treat a wheezing cough?Treatment for a wheezing cough may depend on the underlying cause. Doctors may prescribe medications or recommend home remedies and lifestyle changes, such as steam inhalation and quitting smoking.
People should speak with a healthcare professional for a diagnosis.
How long does it take for wheezing to go away?The underlying cause of wheezing may affect its duration. For example, wheezing due to a foreign object in the airways may go away when someone removes the object. However, conditions such as asthma may cause chronic, intermittent wheezing.
Seeking a diagnosis and treatment may help to get rid of wheezing.
Wheezing is a high-pitched, whistling sound that occurs when a person breathes in or out. It occurs due to a blockage in the person's airways.
The outlook for wheezing depends on its cause. People may be able to manage this symptom with prescription medications and home treatments, if it is due to a chronic condition.
If wheezing is causing concern, it is essential to remain calm. Keep breathing slow and regular and seek medical treatment when appropriate.
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Unusual Asthma Symptoms That You Should Know
Asthma may cause occasional flare-ups. Unusual symptoms, including insomnia, a constant dry cough, and difficulty exercising could mean your treatment is not working as it should and may need adjusting.
Living with a chronic condition like asthma means you may experience flare-ups from time to time.
This is especially the case if you encounter things that trigger your asthma. Allergens, weather changes, and viral infections can all make your symptoms flare up.
Asthma symptoms occur when there's swelling and constriction in your airways, along with increased mucus.
The most notable asthma symptoms include:
Sometimes, you may experience additional symptoms that are considered unusual.
While this doesn't mean the symptoms are rare, having unusual asthma symptoms could mean your treatment is not managing your condition well, or an asthma attack is about to happen.
Learn more about some unusual asthma symptoms and when to talk with your doctor about how you can manage them.
Sleep difficulties may arise due to unmanaged asthma. You may experience issues with insomnia, for example.
Your airway function naturally decreases during sleep, especially if you have asthma.
If you have severe asthma and your treatment isn't managing your symptoms well, you may find that traditional asthma symptoms, like coughing, are worse when you're trying to get some shut-eye.
If it seems that you almost exclusively experience your symptoms at night, you may have a subtype called nocturnal asthma.
You can help decrease your risk for nighttime asthma symptoms by making sure there are no triggers in your sleeping space. This includes:
Also, talk with your doctor about medications that reduce airway inflammation, such as inhaled corticosteroids and leukotriene modifiers.
When you have an asthma flare-up, you may get a wheezy, wet cough.
In fact, coughing is a common and one of the most noticeable symptoms in people with asthma. You may also have a lingering cough after recovering from a cold or other infection that's worsened your asthma symptoms.
Having only a chronic, dry cough is considered unusual in traditional asthma. Instead, it may signal a subtype of asthma called cough-variant asthma. This is when you experience a constant cough without excess mucus. It is also known as an unproductive cough.
If your asthma symptoms make it difficult to fall asleep and stay asleep, you may experience daytime fatigue.
A chronic cough can also make you feel tired because you're using energy while coughing.
When your body is working harder to get more oxygen through inflamed and constricted airways, you can experience fatigue on a regular basis.
Shortness of breath is a classic asthma symptom. It's the result of airway constriction (tightening) during a flare-up.
Taking quick breaths helps get more oxygen into the lungs but is a more unusual asthma symptom. Rapid breathing may also come in the form of constant sighing or yawning. You may not even realize you're doing it. While sighing is often due to stress or anxiety, it can occasionally be a sign of asthma.
One misconception about people with asthma is that you can't or shouldn't exercise. However, well-managed asthma shouldn't place any limitations on exercising.
Exercise-induced asthma is a subtype of asthma when physical activity triggers airway constriction and inflammation. Certain high intensity exercises that require deep, rapid breathing can also bring about your symptoms. This includes running.
Aside from the activity itself, other factors can trigger exercise-induced asthma, such as:
If you find yourself having to use your rescue inhaler whenever you work out, this likely means your asthma treatment needs to be changed. You may need to see your doctor for long-term management medication.
Some people with asthma may also experience an itchy face and throat in addition to the more traditional symptoms of wheezing and coughing.
These itchy sensations aren't related to asthma itself but instead may be due to allergies. If allergens trigger your asthma symptoms, you may have a subtype of asthma called allergic asthma.
When you have allergic asthma, you may experience more traditional asthma symptoms along with:
The best way to reduce itchiness and other allergic asthma symptoms is to reduce contact with the substances that trigger your allergies. These may include:
Allergy shots, also called immunotherapy, are frequently an effective tool to manage allergic asthma and other symptoms caused by environmental allergies.
While asthma symptoms are largely physical, it's possible to experience effects on your mood, too. Some people with asthma have anxiety along with difficulty concentrating.
Long-term anxiety may also trigger your asthma, creating a cycle that's hard to break.
What can be mistaken for asthma?Some common conditions that people can mistake for asthma include:
People with asthma may experience more unusual symptoms such as:
There's no single test to determine whether you have asthma.
If your symptoms and lung function test results don't clearly point to asthma, your doctor can perform methacholine testing. This test measures the sensitivity of your airways if you have respiratory symptoms like coughing and chest tightening. If the test comes back negative, you may not have asthma.
What is a silent asthmatic?Silent asthma is when you have asthma without the usual audible symptoms of coughing or wheezing.
Since there's no cure for asthma, the only way to prevent flare-ups is to proactively manage your condition. This includes taking your medications as directed by your doctor and avoiding your triggers whenever possible.
Sometimes, asthma can cause symptoms beyond the usual wheezing, coughing, and chest tightness.
It's especially important to watch out for these unusual asthma symptoms if you have a child or other loved one with asthma. These could be early signs of an upcoming flare-up or asthma attack.
If you consistently experience unusual asthma symptoms, it may be time to see your doctor to modify your current treatment plan.
Some Children With Recurrent Wheezing Need Antivirals – Not Steroids, Study Finds
Many children with recurrent wheezing issues would be better treated with antiviral medications instead of steroids, researchers at the University of Virginia found.
In a study of 800 children with recurrent, severe wheezing issues, researchers found that 22% had lung infections that went undetected, because they did not display typical cold symptoms. That matters for doctors prescribing treatments, because these types of "silent" infections' don't respond to corticosteroids commonly used to treat wheezing.
MORE: Thinking hard can make your brain hurt – study links mental exertion to stressHigher doses of corticosteroids may increase these children's risk for lingering lung inflammation, and can cause side effects like irritability, reduced bone density and suppressed growth, the study found. Antiviral medications better treated recurrent wheezing without the side effects.
"While steroids can help some children with wheeze, many children in the study showed no patterns of inflammation that would improve with steroids," said Dr. W. Gerald Teague, a pediatric pulmonologist at the the UVA School of Medicine's Child Health Research Center. "I advise the parents of my patients that wheeze episodes that are triggered by colds should be treated with anti-inflammatory medications that build immunity to viruses, such as azithromycin. They look surprised that we would use an antibiotic for a viral infection, but, in fact, azithromycin bolsters the immune response to viruses in a positive way."
Teague said he decided to study recurrent wheezing due to the large number of children who get referred to him through community health care providers and the UVA Health Emergency Department. Because rhinoviruses – the most common cause of a cold – can trigger wheezing, he wanted to see whether recurrent wheezing is linked to "silent' lung infections."
Rhinoviruses were the most common infection among the children in the study, but some unresolved respiratory infections were found, too. The researchers suspect an issue with mucosal immune cells in lungs might make it hard for children to combat these viruses.
Further research is need to better understand this immune malfunction, researchers said, but the issue primarily seemed to impact very young children; it was found less often among school-age children.
"We hope this discovery will stimulate further work in the treatment of recurrent wheeze and viral infections in children," Teague said. "The field has to get to away from overuse of potentially toxic steroids for the treatment of acute wheeze to include novel therapies which target specific patterns of inflammation."
Teagues plans to also study whether this type of immune response is also a risk factor for children who develop asthma.
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