• Crackling Noise In Chest When Breathing
• Phlegm And Crackling Noise When Breathing
• Crackling Noise In Lungs When Breathing

Sep 25, 2017  Other ways to treat crackling sound in ear Valsalva maneuver. Accomplished by keeping the mouth closed while you pinch your nostrils. Take a deep breath through your mouth and try to.

1. Crackling in the lungs usually reflects a buildup of fluid, mucus or pus in the small airways. This is commonly due to lung disease, such as pneumonia or another respiratory disorder. Lung crackles are abnormal breath sounds heard with a stethoscope during a physical exam.
2. #2 Cause of Crackling Sound While You Breathe: Asthma Heavy, tight feeling in chest. Difficulty breathing. Wheezing when inhaling or exhaling. Crackling sound while breathing. Purple/Blue lips from lack of oxygen in major attacks.

A crackle in the lungs is something that might be detected when your doctor checks you over with a stethoscope.

What such a lung crackle might signify can vary, since all a lung crackle indicates on its own is that something is affecting air flow.

For example, crackles in the lungs of children can have distinctly different causes than those in adults, crackles may only happen when exhaling or at night, sometimes crackling lungs only happens after coughing, and so on.

The point is that this is a single clinical observation rather than a definitive condition. Learning a bit more about crackling lungs may not help you self-diagnose (unless you own your own stethoscope), but it can help you better understand your doctor and lead to a more informed relationship.

In this article:

Types of Crackling Sounds in the Lungs

There are four broad categories for lung crackles that doctors use to better classify their observations. Some conditions are only associated with certain lung sounds, so knowing what kind of crackling your lungs have helps the differential diagnosis. Crackling in the lungs when breathing out or in falls into one of the following groups:

• Wheezes: A wheeze is a sort of high-pitched sound that comes from air trying to get through a narrowed passageway. Occasionally, wheezing can be pronounced enough that your doctor can hear it without a stethoscope.
• Rales: Rales have a bubbling, clicking, or rattling sort of sound that occurs when you inhale. They tend to happen when air enters an otherwise closed space. Rales can be further subcategorized as moist, dry, fine, or coarse depending on the nature of the sound.
• Stridor: Stridor is similar to wheezing but originates closer to the trachea and has a higher-pitched, almost musical quality. Stridor sounds are more likely to be the result of something obstructing the trachea or the back of the throat, and the sounds are more pronounced when inhaling.
• Rhonchi: Rhonchi falls under the wheezing category, but its sounds resemble snoring and happen in the larger airways. During rhonchi sounds, airflow may be blocked or is otherwise “rough” during its passage.

What Causes Crackles in the Lungs?

1. Pneumonia

Pneumonia can have viral or bacterial causes, but in all cases it’s characterized by an inflammation of the air sac in one or both lungs along with a possible buildup of fluids. When listening to your lungs, pneumonia crackles present as moist rales due to the movement of fluid within the air sac. Pneumonia can also cause something called an “E to A” change, which is when the letter “E,” if said aloud, sounds like an “A” through the stethoscope.

2. Bronchitis

Whether it’s acute or chronic, bronchitis is when the bronchial tubes become inflamed. Bronchitis is almost always the result of a virus and it tends to appear in the aftermath of a cold, flu, or similar illness. Bronchitis causes crackling lungs in the form of wheezing that may also sound moist.

3. Asthma

Asthma is a combination of the airways swelling, narrowing, and producing excess mucus. Consequently, asthma produces wheezing-type or moist lung crackles. Unlike bronchitis, asthma sounds are not necessarily tied to the bronchial tubes. Incidentally, asthma falls under the category of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, of which almost all can cause wheezing.

4. Post-Nasal Drip

This is a possible cause if you hear crackling lungs when lying down but not when you sit up. Basically, what happens during post-nasal drip is that excess mucus from your nose makes its way down your throat and into the airway, where it can produce lung crackles that you can sometimes hear without a stethoscope.

5. Croup

Croup is the term used to describe the swelling of the vocal cords, normally caused by a viral infection, and is identifiable by a cough that sounds something like a seal barking. Due to the narrowing of the airway, croup produces wheezing-type lung crackles. Children and infants between three months and five years of age are more likely to get croup, but it can occur at any age.

6. Heart Failure

Congestive heart failure can arise when the heart is damaged by physical injury, a prior heart attack, an infection, medication side effects, or genetic conditions, among other causes. Heart failure results in the gradual buildup of fluid in the lungs, a condition known as pulmonary edema. Moist rales can be heard when someone with edema tries to take a deep breath.

7. Emphysema

The air sacs of the lung are spherical under normal conditions. Emphysema is what happens when these sacs weaken and burst, creating what amounts to holes in the lungs. This impairs the ability of your lungs to process oxygen (due to reduced surface area) and limits how much can get into the bloodstream. Emphysema also affects the elastic fibers that support the airways, making it harder to exhale. As a form of COPD, emphysema results in wheezing sounds as well as decreased breathing sounds when exhaling. Emphysema is normally the result of prolonged inhalation of smoke, pollution, or certain industrial fumes.

8. Foreign Object

You may be surprised to learn that it’s possible to have an object lodged in your throat without causing you to choke. In these cases, the partially obstructed trachea will produce stridor sounds. Blockages not caused by a foreign object can also arise, such as from swelling or a muscle spasm.

Stridor is more common in children both because their airways are narrower and because they are more likely to put random objects in their mouths.

9. Cancer

A tumor can cause lung crackles depending where in the lungs or airway it’s located. If it’s in the trachea or vocal cord area, wheezing or stridor sounds are more likely. If the tumor is in the lung itself, rales or rhonchi might arise.

10. Atelectasis

This is the medical term for a collapsed lung, and it’s exactly what it sounds like. The lung, in part or in whole, collapses and becomes unable to effectively draw in air. Atelectasis normally happens because of sudden trauma, such as a car accident, or as a later complication of an already existing disease. If examined on a stethoscope, the lung sounds will be very weak and wheezing crackles may be detected. A collapsed lung is a medical emergency and the emergence of sudden, significant breathing difficulty and chest pain needs to be checked out immediately.

Treatment for crackles in the lungs takes many forms and some causes can be cured
more than others. For example, a humidifier can help treat post-nasal drip.

Other Symptoms with Lung Crackles

Since lung crackles rarely appear in isolation, and because you can’t normally hear your own lungs that well, paying attention to other symptoms can be important in determining what’s wrong. Your doctor uses these other symptoms in addition to lung crackles when forming a final diagnosis. Not all of these symptoms appear in every case of lung crackles and the absence of some symptoms can be quite informative.

• Fever
• Malaise (general feeling of being unwell)
• Wet cough
• Dry cough (crackling lungs with a dry cough suggests different problems than a wet one)
• Pain when exhaling and/or inhaling
• Chest pain (specific location or generalized, can also be sharp or dull)
• Excessive sweating
• A headache
• Trouble catching breath
• Becoming winded more easily (this can come on gradually)
• Coughing up blood or phlegm (color of phlegm can be important too)
• Blue or purple lips
• Hoarse voice
• Disorientation or confusion

Ways to Manage Crackles in Lungs

Treatment for crackles in the lungs takes many forms and some causes can be cured more than others. Since management for lung crackles will inevitably vary based on the specific condition, it’s difficult to name broadly applicable options. However, a few treatment or management methods tend to crop up more often among different conditions:

• Antibiotics (for bacterial pneumonia or bronchitis, useless for viral causes)
• Bronchodilators (drugs that relax a constricted airway)
• Inhaled steroids (like an asthma inhaler)
• Surgery (to drain fluid, remove a tumor, remove damaged tissue, etc.)
• Lung transplant
• Breathing exercises (pulmonary rehabilitation therapy) that help reduces periods of breathlessness
• Supplemental oxygen
• Humidifier (for post-nasal drip)

Risk Factors for Crackles in the Lungs

• Smoking
• Obesity
• Family or personal history of lung disease
• Lung trauma or surgery
• Living or working in an area with high air pollution

Preventing Lung Crackles

Short of quitting smoking, trying to reach or maintain a healthy weight, not breathing in industrial fumes, and keeping swallowable objects away from small children, there are few methods that can be taken to avoid the causes of lung crackles.

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Noisy breathing can be an annoying occurrence, especially when it happens at night. The odd breath sounds may be the result of a mild case of congestion during an episode of the common cold, or an indication of a serious underlying health condition. Noisy breathing in adults may present as a low- or high-pitched whistle or a deep, sharp noise during an exhale or inhale. Constant noisy breath sounds can be linked to a specific cause depending on the type of sound itself.

When we breathe, air is exchanged in the lungs, taking in oxygen and forcing out carbon dioxide. The upper airways, comprising the nasal cavities, the pharynx, and the larynx, works with the lower airways, otherwise known as the section containing the trachea, bronchi, and the lungs.

In This Article:

Types of Noisy Breathing in Adults

1. Rales

This noisy breathing sound is described as a rattling, bubbling, or clicking noise. These lung sounds may be sporadic when breathing and can be compared to the sound of cellophane being crinkled.

2. Rhonchi

Rhonchi often refer to snoring sounds with noisy breathing. These present as low-pitched sounds with a rattle-like noise while breathing. They may disappear once the throat is cleared or after a cough.

3. Stridor

The high-pitched sound of stridor can be described as the harsh vibration of a blockage of the trachea. As the airway passage is obstructed, the force of the breath may be heard in a musical tone.

4. Wheezing

As one of the more common noisy breathing sounds, wheezing presents as an abrasive whistle. It may occur continuously while breathing or just on the exhale. Wheezing is seen when the bronchial tubes become inflamed, as with asthma, or narrow from an obstacle.

Causes of Noisy Breathing (Breath Sounds)

1. Rales

Rales may be heard with heart disease and various medical conditions originating in the lungs. This crackling noise is often present with a lung infection such as bronchitis. Inflammation and damage to the airway may trigger the production of excess mucus and force the rale noise. Acute bronchitis may present a persistent, wet cough.

An infection that invades the air sacs in the lungs is pneumonia. This condition sees a collection of mucus and pus within the sacs, resulting in the crackling noise when breathing.

Rales may also be associated with heart failure, obstructive pulmonary diseases, interstitial lung disease, and other lung-related medical conditions.

2. Rhonchi

Noisy breathing that creates the rhonchi sound may be caused by an airway obstruction with upper respiratory conditions such as pneumonia, chronic bronchitis, and cystic fibrosis.

While thickened mucus in the air sacs attributes to pneumonia, the secretions of the mucus into the inflamed bronchial tubes develop into chronic bronchitis. The obstruction with cystic fibrosis occurs with excessive production of thick mucus. This is an inherited condition that also causes nasal congestion, lung infections, and activity-induced breathing difficulties.

3. Stridor

The high-pitched wheezing sound of stridor may appear with airway obstruction either by swelling or the presence of a foreign object. This sound may also be present during activities like inhaling smoke or consuming a throat-irritant substance. Download win 7 professional.

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Inflammation within the lungs, airway, or lymph nodes, as seen with tonsillitis, may also cause stridor. The effects of surgical procedures on the neck and throat or paralysis of the vocal cords may produce the stridor sound as well.

4. Wheezing

The familiar wheezing sound is common whenever the airways become narrowed. It is most common with the asthma condition. It may also arise with pneumonia, bronchitis, and the life-threatening anaphylaxis shock.
Other health conditions that may attribute to wheezing include heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), emphysema, sleep apnea, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), vocal cord dysfunction, and lung cancer.

How to Evaluate Noisy Breathing

Aside from noting the obvious sounds of noisy breathing, the doctor will review the patient’s medical history and perform a physical exam. A review of recent, past, and current medication use may also occur.
Further testing may be required for cases that do not present an obvious cause. Imaging tests may help doctors check for any infections or tumors in the heart and lungs. A computerized tomography scan and a magnetic resonance imaging scan may also be ordered.

Doctors may perform more invasive testing to view the airway passages in greater depth. These may include an endoscopy or bronchoscopy, wherein a tiny camera is inserted with use of a tube to have a close look at the inner throat.

How to Treat Noisy Breathing

Noisy breathing can be alleviated or ended, depending on the underlying cause. Treatment may focus on the cause, as well as the noisy breathing symptom.

Prescribed medications and medical devices may be used to open congested airway passages. Any infection, blockage, or fluid-on-the-lung conditions may require specialized care in a hospital setting.

For example, noisy breathing because of a common condition such as asthma, bronchitis, or COPD may require a management plan that includes the use of an inhaler.

Crackling Noise In Chest When Breathing

When to Visit a Doctor

Noisy breathing or abnormal sounds may require medical attention if it affects the ability to breathe. Seek advice from a doctor if:

Phlegm And Crackling Noise When Breathing

• Breathing difficulty becomes progressively worse
• Lips or face have a bluish hue, as this indicates cyanosis
• Breathing stops completely
• Extreme flaring of the nostrils occurs when breathing
• Wheezing becomes persistent

Experiencing an odd noise while breathing can be concerning, especially if it occurs suddenly and without any apparent cause. Most times, noisy breathing is caused by an ailment such as nasal congestion or blockage of the airways by excess mucus production.

More serious medical conditions such as sleep apnea, heart failure, or the onset of anaphylaxis may also cause the crackling, wheezing, or clicking sound when breathing. Obstruction by an unfamiliar object can also be associated with the noisy sounds.

Treatment of noisy breathing depends on the cause behind the noise. Any troubling sounds with a severe change in breathing patterns or accompanied by shortness of breath should be immediately checked by a professional.

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Crackling Noise In Lungs When Breathing