Why is it hard to breathe, there is not enough air

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

If inhalation or exhalation is difficult, a doctor is urgently needed.

When to call an ambulance

People can live without air for only a few minutes. Therefore, in case of a sudden respiratory failure, you need to dial 103 or 112 as soon as possible. Otherwise, acute respiratory failure will develop, due to which brain cells will begin to die off. It is indicated by the following additional signs Overview of Respiratory Failure:

• the person becomes lethargic or loses consciousness;
• he began to choke while eating;
• cough that gets worse, while the person cannot move or lie down;
• coughing up foam or blood from the mouth;
• the skin of the face turns blue;
• it hurts in the chest so that it is impossible to inhale;
• colic appeared in the abdomen;
• the joints are red and swollen;
• swollen lips, eyelids, forehead and scalp.

Why is it hard to breathe

Breathing impairment can be gradual, aggravated by exertion or excitement, and often has relatively harmless causes. We have already talked about them.

But sometimes a person cannot make a normal inhalation or exhalation due to dangerous conditions that require help as quickly as possible.

Severe allergies

Certain foods, medications or chemicals cause allergies Angioedema: principles of diagnosis and therapy. Moreover, at the first contact, a person will not have symptoms, and upon repeated contact, a complex cascade of immune reactions is triggered, due to which a rapid edema of the subcutaneous tissue develops. In mild forms of allergy, watery eyes, a rash on the body, or hives appear. But in severe cases, Quincke's edema or anaphylactic shock develops. At the same time, the tissues of the larynx swell, so breathing is suddenly disturbed, and the voice becomes hoarse.

What to do

Severe allergies can lead to rapid death. Therefore, you urgently need to call an ambulance for acute allergic diseases. You cannot take any medications without consulting a doctor.

When the condition improves, the allergist will order an examination. It is necessary to find a substance that causes such a reaction.

Foreign body

In adults, foreign objects enter the respiratory tract much less often than in children. Foreign bodies of the larynx and laryngopharynx in children. But sometimes it happens during eating or careless handling of small parts. For example, when making repairs, some people like to hold nails with their lips, and when sewing - pins. Awkward movement can cause metal objects to be swallowed or into the larynx.

Foreign bodies, be it food or small things, create a mechanical obstacle to the flow of air. Sometimes if batteries are swallowed Laryngeal edema and vocal cord paralysis due to lithium battery ingestion; a case report a chemical burn of the mucous membrane develops. Therefore, in response to irritation of the tissues of the respiratory tract, edema appears, it is difficult to inhale or exhale.

What to do

If a child or an adult has swallowed a small object, it is difficult for him to breathe and he cannot speak, but is conscious, he urgently needs help. It is possible to free the airways using the Heimlich technique. The Heimlich technique in conscious adults. Proceed like this:

• stand behind the victim and wrap your arms around him;
• clench one hand into a fist and place it in the middle between the navel and ribs, and place the other on top;
• make 6-10 sharp thrusts in the abdomen in the upward direction, as if squeezing air out of the stomach.

Please note: this method cannot be applied to children under one year old and to pregnant women. Women are pushed into the chest area and the baby is consciously held head down and pounded on the back.

Even if after first aid the person cleared his throat or vomited, you still need to call an ambulance.

Panic attack

A feeling of tightness in the throat, lack of air can appear during panic attacks and panic disorder. However, there are some of the additional symptoms:

• cardiopalmus;
• a feeling of fear;
• sweating;
• trembling and chills;
• stomach cramps or nausea;
• headache;
• dizziness;
• violation of orientation in space.

What to do

Panic attacks are not life threatening, but they prevent you from doing your usual activities or working. Therefore, when the first symptoms appear, you need to call an ambulance, and after the condition improves, contact a psychotherapist or psychiatrist.

Chemical irritation

Inhalation of hot smoke or vapors from various chemicals can cause serious problems. Intoxication from breathing smoke. This condition is associated with chemical and sometimes thermal burns of the mucous membrane. Coughing, feeling short of breath, dizziness, confusion may appear several minutes or hours after contact with an irritating substance.

What to do

A person needs to call an ambulance as soon as possible. Doctors will let him breathe. Oxygen smoke poisoning. If the laryngeal edema worsens, a special tube will be installed to improve ventilation of the lungs and medications will be prescribed to reduce bronchospasm.

Laryngeal papillomatosis

If breathing disorders develop gradually over several years, it is possible that it is papillomatosis. The current state of the problem of respiratory papillomatosis of the larynx of the larynx. It is a benign growth on the mucous membrane that causes human papillomavirus (HPV) type 6, 11, 16 and 18.

Breathing problems do not appear immediately. At first, a person notices that his voice becomes hoarse, and his breathing is noisy and sibilant. Then comes a chronic cough, pain when swallowing, often worried about pneumonia or colds. Sometimes, by mistake, the doctor may diagnose chronic laryngitis or bronchitis.

What to do

If it becomes difficult to breathe, you need to see a therapist. He will conduct an examination and, if necessary, refer you to a pulmonologist. The specialist will do a bronchoscopy - examine the airways using a flexible tube with a video camera. This will help to confirm the current state of the problem of respiratory papillomatosis of the larynx or to refute papillomatosis of the larynx.

To get rid of the disease, an operation is performed. Otherwise, the growths can spread lower, to the trachea, completely close the throat lumen, and you will have to insert a hard tube from the outside. This is called a tracheostomy. The device will remain in the throat until surgical treatment is possible.

Larynx or lung cancer

If the difficulty in breathing develops over several years, while it is accompanied by chest pain, coughing up blood, heavy weight loss, it is possible that it is lung cancer Lung cancer or larynx An update on larynx cancer. The disease often occurs in people who smoke, but sometimes the tumor is found in those who have never held a cigarette in their hands.

What to do

When these symptoms appear, you need to make an appointment with a therapist. He will send for a chest x-ray. If the suspicions are confirmed, you will be prescribed treatment depending on the stage and type of cancer.

Pneumonia, including those caused by coronavirus

Pneumonia, or pneumonia, is caused by bacteria and viruses, including the coronavirus. The symptoms are expressed in everyone in different ways - sometimes it is a mild malaise or, conversely, a serious condition in which urgent help is needed. The signs of pneumonia are as follows:

• increased body temperature, but in the elderly it may be below normal;
• chills, sweating;
• weakness and fatigue;
• cough - with or without phlegm;
• shortness of breath and chest pain - it is difficult to inhale and exhale.

What to do

If symptoms of pneumonia appear, you need to call a doctor at your home. He will prescribe treatment, which includes antibiotics, expectorant drugs. If the condition worsens, the patient will be referred to a hospital.

Heart diseases

In heart failure, Cardiac asthma: What causes it? a person has a circulatory disorder, due to which fluid accumulates in the lungs and edema appears. This condition leads to the development of cardiac asthma. It is characterized by:

• cough;
• dyspnea;
• wheezing in the lungs.

Respiratory distress manifests itself gradually, over several hours or days.

What to do

At the first signs of pathology, you need to call an ambulance. In the meantime, the doctors are going - to make the victim sit in a comfortable position, to unfasten tight clothes. If a person is aware of their illness and carries emergency medications with them, you need to help him find them.

Bronchial asthma

This is a chronic disease of Asthma, in which a lot of mucus is produced in the lungs in response to the action of an allergen or other irritant, which narrows the lumen of the bronchi. Therefore, a person develops shortness of breath - he inhales with a whistle and exhales heavily. At the same time, cough with a large amount of sputum worries.

The disease proceeds with periods of exacerbation, so patients carry an inhaler and other medications with them. But sometimes the asthma attack of asthma is very strong and does not disappear after the use of the necessary drugs, but intensifies more and more. This condition can lead to respiratory arrest and death.

What to do

Call an ambulance for Asthma attack immediately if symptoms occur for the first time or if a person with a diagnosed asthma has an attack that does not go away after taking medication.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

In people who have been smoking for many years, the elasticity of the lung tissue decreases, and it cannot perform its function. This is how chronic obstructive COPD pulmonary disease (COPD) occurs. She has the following symptoms:

• shortness of breath, which develops gradually, increases with physical exertion;
• feeling of tightness in the chest;
• wheezing;
• chronic cough with phlegm;
• weight loss in advanced stages.

What to do

If there are signs of COPD, you need to see a physician. He will recommend quitting smoking and prescribing medication to dilate the bronchi.

Pulmonary thromboembolism

Blood clots can form in a person with varicose veins. If they break off, they are able to enter the pulmonary artery and block its lumen. Pulmonary embolism stops blood flow in the lungs, and breathing problems, chest pain and coughing suddenly appear. sometimes there is sputum with blood. This condition can lead to death.

What to do

When these symptoms appear, you need to call an ambulance. After improving the condition, the phlebologist will prescribe treatment for varicose veins to prevent recurrence of pulmonary embolism.

Pulmonary hypertension

The increased pressure in the arteries of the lungs and the right chamber of the heart is called pulmonary hypertension. Pulmonary hypertension. This condition develops slowly over several years. It is caused by congenital and acquired heart defects, COPD, pulmonary embolism and some diseases of internal organs, such as tumors that compress the vessels in the chest, inflammatory pathologies of the vessels or heart, or kidney diseases.

Pulmonary hypertension is characterized by shortness of breath, which first appears with physical exertion, and then without. Then they are concerned about chest pain, dizziness, swelling in the legs, blue lips and skin, rapid pulse.

What to do

When symptoms appear, you need to make an appointment with a therapist. He will prescribe an examination, find the cause of pulmonary hypertension and select a treatment. If you do not pay attention to your condition, the work of the heart will be disrupted and you will die.