Understanding Wheezing - Treatment

How Do I Find Out What's Causing My Wheezing?

To determine the cause of your wheezing, your doctor will ask you questions to determine your symptoms and what leads to them. For example, if you have no history of lung disease and you always wheeze after eating a certain food or at a certain time of year, your doctor may suspect that you have a food or respiratory allergy.

Your doctor will listen to your lungs with a stethoscope to hear where the wheezing is and how much wheezing you have.

If this is the first time you've been evaluated, your doctor will probably ask you to perform a breathing test (spirometry) and may also order a chest X-ray.

Other blood tests and procedures may be necessary depending on what your doctor learns from talking with you and examining you.

If it seems like you have allergies that may be related to your wheezing, there are a variety of other tests your doctor may use to verify allergies, including skin testing or blood tests (an eosinophil count or IgE levels).

What Are the Treatments for Wheezing?

First off, you must see a doctor to determine the cause of your wheezing and then receive treatment for the specific cause.

If your wheezing is caused by asthma, your doctor may recommend some or all of the following to reduce inflammation and open the airways:

• A fast-acting bronchodilator inhaler (to dilate constricted airways when you have respiratory symptoms)
• An inhaled corticosteroid
• A long acting bronchodilator
• An asthma controller pill to reduce airway inflammation
• A non-sedating antihistamine pill (such as loratadine), or a prescription nasal spray if you have nasal allergies

If you have acute bronchitis, your doctor may recommend some or all of the following:

• A bronchodilator (such as albuterol or salbutamol) to help ease the wheezing as the infection clears
• An antibiotic if you have an underlying lung problem

Generally, any mild wheezing that accompanies acute bronchitis disappears when the infection does.

In emergencies, when wheezing is so severe that it is difficult or nearly impossible for you to breathe, a medical team may administer any of the following that may be needed:

• A shot of epinephrine to open clogged respiratory passages
• Oxygen
• A corticosteroid (such as methylprednisolone or prednisone)
• A mechanical ventilator or CPAP machine to help you breathe