Wheezing

Wheezing usually sounds like a high-pitched whistle. “Wheezing is a long-duration, high-pitched, musical sound when someone is breathing out,” although sometimes you can hear wheezing when you breathe in as well, Moss says. Wheezing may sound a bit like hissing.

Sometimes, you can’t hear wheezing yourself, but a health care provider can hear it through a stethoscope. 

Your breathing also may make a lower-pitched, rattling sound, somewhat like a snore or gurgling, called ronchi. People often describe this as coarse breathing. Sometimes, that’s considered a type of wheezing, but technically, those lower-pitched sounds are ronchi, Moss says. 

The whistling sound happens when air moves through airways that are narrowed, much like the way a whistle or flute makes music. Wheezing happens when your lower airways are narrowed.

Many health problems can cause wheezing, including:

• Asthma. This condition, in which your airways narrow, swell, and make extra mucus, can make it hard to breathe.
• COPD. With COPD, the damage to your lungs causes swelling and irritation that limits airflow in and out of your lungs.
• Allergic reactions to pollen, chemicals, pet dander, dust, foods, or insect stings
• Bronchitis
• A cold
• Cystic fibrosis. It damages your lungs and makes the mucus extra sticky and thick
• Obstruction of an airway because you’ve inhaled an object such as a piece of food
• Lung cancer
• Congestive heart failure
• Pneumonia. This infection inflames the air sacs in your lungs, and they fill with fluid or pus.
• Bronchiolitis. This lung infection inflames the airways and causes congestion, usually in children.
• Emphysema. It is a lung condition that causes shortness of breath.
• Smoking or breathing in smoke
• Respiratory syncytial virus. This can lead to bronchiolitis.
• Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD)
• Vocal cord problems
• Sleep apnea

If your wheezing is making it difficult to breathe, see a doctor so you can get the right treatment. 

If your wheezing isn’t bothering you and you don’t need immediate treatment, here are some things you can do to ease or prevent wheezing:

• Keep the air moist. Use a humidifier, take a warm, steamy shower, or sit in the bathroom with the door closed while running a hot shower. 
• Drink something warm. It relaxes your airways and loosens sticky mucus.
• Don’t smoke, and stay away from people who do.
• Follow your doctor’s orders. Take your medications according to the instructions.
• Clean the air. Use an air cleaner with a HEPA filter. This will cut down on allergens that often lead to asthma attacks. 

Breathing exercises can reduce your wheezing and help your lungs work more efficiently. “Breathing techniques can also help the airway relax — help to change how a person is breathing and moving air in their airway,” Moss says. 

Try these breathing techniques:

Pursed-lip breathing. Breathe in through your nose. Breathe out for twice as long, with your lips pursed like you’re going to whistle. Breathing out through pursed lips increases the airway pressure and helps open your airways a bit, Moss says. 

Belly breathing or diaphragmatic breathing. Breathe in through your nose. Put your hands on your belly and pay attention to how it expands. Breathe out through your mouth for at least two to three times as long as you breathe in. If you’re wheezing, your chest may feel tight. When you focus on your belly or your diaphragm while breathing, it helps relax your chest, Moss says.

Buteyko breathing method. Breathe in and out through your nose for a few minutes. After breathing out, plug your nose and hold your breath, inhaling when you feel the urge to breathe. Breathe in and out through your nose a few times and repeat. This helps normalize breathing patterns.

Nasal breathing. Breathe in and out through your nose, relaxing your jaw and throat. Breathe slow and steady. This helps warm and humidify the air as you breathe it in.

Other breathing methods used in yoga or meditation can be helpful, too, Moss says. With these techniques, you’re “focusing your breathing deeper in your core, down to your belly, so that you’re getting a much deeper breath and you’re not breathing as shallowly,” he says.

Many breathing techniques are used in yoga and meditation, and they may help improve your breathing. They include:

Alternate nostril breathing. While sitting up, use your right thumb to close your right nostril, and inhale deeply through your left nostril. Use your ring finger to close your left nostril, and breathe out through your right nostril. Then switch, breathing in through your right, and repeat the process.

Bumblebee breath. While sitting, close your eyes and put your index fingers on your eyelids, thumbs in your ears, and rest of the fingers on your face. Take a deep breath through your nose, and as you breathe out, close the back of your throat to make a humming or buzzing sound.