Alternative names
Difficulty breathing - first aid; Dyspnea - first aid; Shortness of breath - first aid
Expectations (prognosis) Breathing difficulties can be described in several different ways. You may be short of breath, unable to take a deep breath, gasping for air or feel like you are not getting enough air. See also choking.
Considerations
If you are having difficulty breathing, it is almost always a medical emergency (other than feeling slightly winded from normal activity like exercise or climbing a hill).
Causes
Difficulty breathing has many potential causes. Some of the most common are: Sudden illness or infections like pneumonia, acute bronchitis, whooping cough, croup, or epiglottitis
Heart disease, asthma, emphysema, chronic bronchitis, or heart failure
Heart attack
Injury to the neck, chest wall, or lungs
Collapsed lung, which can happen if you have emphysema or asthma, but may also happen spontaneously in young, healthy people
High altitudes, which can be a problem even in young people
Cigarette smoking or breathing secondhand smoke
Pulmonary embolism, or a blood clot in the lung, which can cause very abrupt and severe difficulty breathing
Life-threatening allergic reaction
Symptoms The following symptoms are often associated with difficulty breathing: Gurgling, wheezing, or whistling sounds
Using chest and neck muscles to breathe
Bluish lips, fingers, and fingernails
Cough (if the person also has phlegm/sputum, this may be pneumonia; a barking cough in a child is croup)
Chest pain (could be a heart attack or injury; sharp chest pain could be pulmonary embolism or collapsed lung)
Chest moving in an unusual way as the person breathes (may indicate an airway or chest injury)
Confusion, light-headedness, weakness, or sleepiness
Fever
First Aid
Prevention
Wear a medical alert tag if you have a pre-existing breathing condition, such as asthma.
If you have a history of severe allergic reactions, carry an epinephrine pen and wear a medical alert tag. Your doctor will teach you how to use the epi pen.
If you have asthma or allergies, eliminate household allergy triggers like dust mites and mold.
Don't smoke and keep away from secondhand smoke. Don't allow smoking in your home.
If you have asthma, see the article on asthma to learn ways to manage it.
Make sure your child obtains the pertussis (whooping cough) vaccine.
When traveling by airplane, get up and walk around once in awhile to avoid forming blood clots in your legs. Clots can break off and lodge in your lungs. If traveling by car, stop and walk around regularly.
Lose weight. You are more likely to feel winded if you are overweight. You are also at greater risk for heart disease and heart attack.
|
