Breath sounds

Injury	Disease	Nutrition	Poison

Symptoms	Surgery	Test	Special Topic

Lungs

Breath sounds

Overview

Treatment

Breath sounds

Alternative Names:

Lung sounds; Breathing sounds

Call your health care provider if:

Nasal flaring and cyanosis are emergency symptoms. Difficulty breathing or shortness of breath can be an emergency condition. Seek immediate medical care if you have any of these symptoms.

Contact your health care provider if you have wheezing or other abnormal breathing sounds.

What to expect at your health care provider's office:

Your healthcare provider will do a physical exam and ask you questions about your medical history and your breathing.

Questions may include:

Time pattern
- When did the breathing sound start?
- How long did it last?
- Is there a pattern to the occurrences?
Quality
- How would you describe it?
Relieving factors
- What makes it better?
Aggravating factors
- What makes it worse?
Other
- What other symptoms are also present?
- Is there any coughing?
- Is there any difficulty breathing?

Abnormal breath sounds are usually discovered by the health care provider. You may not even notice them.

The following tests may be done:

Chest x-ray
Pulmonary function tests
Blood tests (including an arterial blood gas)
CT scan of the chest
Analysis of a sputum sample (sputum culture, sputum gram stain)

Review Date: 2/14/2006
Reviewed By: David A. Kaufman, M.D., Assistant Professor, Division of Pulmonary, CriticalCare & Sleep Medicine, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY. Reviewprovided by VeriMed Healthcare Network.

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