Wheezing

Category: Lungs & Breathing · All lungs & breathing symptoms

What it can feel like

Wheezing is a high-pitched whistling sound made when breathing, most often breathing out, through narrowed airways. It is a sound doctors listen for with a stethoscope, and new wheezing — especially in someone never diagnosed with asthma — should be assessed.

Possible causes

A symptom can have many causes, and most are not serious. The lists below group conditions this symptom can be associated with — common causes first. They are possibilities to discuss with a clinician, not a diagnosis.

Common causes

Wheezing can be associated with asthma, viral chest infections (especially in young children), allergies and hay fever, and irritation from smoke, dust or cold air.

Other possible causes

Wheezing can also occur with chronic lung disease, heart failure (sometimes called cardiac asthma), an allergic reaction, or something lodged in the airway — a particular concern in small children who may have inhaled a small object.

Red flags — when to seek help promptly

Wheezing with severe breathlessness, blue lips or inability to speak in sentences — emergency
Wheezing after a sting, food or medicine, with lip or tongue swelling — emergency
A child's wheeze that starts suddenly after choking on food or a small object
Wheezing that is new in an adult who has never had asthma
Wheezing in one area only, or wheezing that does not respond to a reliever inhaler

What a clinician may do

A clinician will listen to the chest, check oxygen levels and breathing rate, and measure peak flow or lung function. A chest X-ray, allergy history and a trial of inhaler treatment guide the diagnosis; blood tests and scans follow if the picture is unusual.

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Frequently asked questions

Is all wheezing asthma?

No — asthma is the commonest cause, but infections, allergy, heart failure and even a peanut lodged in a child's airway can all wheeze. That is why a first wheeze deserves assessment rather than borrowed inhalers.

My baby wheezes with every cold — is that asthma?

Many toddlers wheeze only with viral infections and grow out of it; others go on to have asthma. The pattern over time, family history of allergy, and response to treatment help your clinician judge which it is.

Related symptoms — Lungs & Breathing

Breathlessness Bringing up phlegm Chest infections that keep coming back Cough Coughing up blood Noisy breathing

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Please note: This page is educational information about a symptom. A symptom alone cannot diagnose any condition, and the causes listed here are possibilities, not a diagnosis. If you are worried about a symptom — especially one that is new, severe, getting worse or not going away — please see your own clinician, who can examine you and arrange tests. In an emergency, call your local emergency number.