What Is the Most Common Cause of Dyspnea?

Dyspnea is often described as shortness of breath and is described as an intense tightening in the chest, air hunger, difficulty breathing, breathlessness, or a feeling of suffocation. When experiencing dyspnea, you may also experience tightness in your chest.

This shortness of breath can be a symptom of a health condition that you may have that is related to heart or lung disease. Although you can experience temporary dyspnea after an intense workout or other physical activity.

Dyspnea can be treated by a few methods; this means treating the underlying cause first.

Diet and exercise – If you are struggling with weight loss or managing your fitness level this could be the cause as well. Eating a balanced diet and exercising can help reduce the symptoms of dyspnea.

Pulmonary Rehabilitation – COPD and other lung conditions require the care of a pulmonologist, a doctor who specializes in the health of the lungs and respiratory system.

Cardiac Rehabilitation – Dyspnea is one of many symptoms of heart failure. If you have heart failure this could mean that your heart is too weak to pump enough oxygenated blood to meet your body’s requirements.

Your doctor will first assess your airways, breathing, and circulation to determine if you require immediate care.

If this is not the case, the doctor will then conduct a range of tests to find the cause of your dyspnea. These can include:

– Physical Evaluation
– Reviewing the medical history
– Imaging scans
– Blood testing
– Lung function test
– Pulse oximetry

During the physical exam, the doctor will measure your pulse, body mass index, rate of breathing, and body temperature. A high temperature may indicate a fever is causing your dyspnea, while an abnormal pulse may indicate an underlying heart condition.

A chest x-ray is used as the first step in diagnostics and determining if a lung or heart complication is causing dyspnea. The doctor may also use a CT during the exam to show:

– Pneumonia
– Pulmonary embolism
– Pleural effusions
– Tumors
– Interstitial lung disease

The main symptoms of dyspnea are shortness of breath and labored breathing. It can last for 1 or 2 minutes after a strenuous activity such as exercising. Or it may be due to a chronic symptom that persists over a long period.

When cases are mild you may feel like you are not getting quite enough air in your lungs. However, in more severe cases, you could feel as though you’re suffocating. When you experience too much dyspnea can bring on chest tightness.

Dyspnea can occur after strenuous exercise is very common. You should seek medical attention if any of the following starts to occur:

– You are short of breath more than usual after physical activity
– Your breathless after an activity that you had no issues with in the past
– You start to experience dyspnea without any known cause

If you are suffering from dyspnea reach out to our team of healthcare professionals today at Sterling heart care about the treatments we offer and how we can help your dyspnea. We are able to diagnose and treat your dyspnea. We serve patients from Buffalo NY, Pine Hill NY, Sloan NY, Kenmore NY, Cleveland Hill NY, and Kaisertown NY.