Parents often call every sound “wheeze.” Doctors separate stertor, stridor and wheeze because the location and urgency are different.
Severe breathing difficulty, chest indrawing, blue lips, drowsiness, poor feeding, grunting, pauses in breathing, persistent fast breathing, low oxygen — these are not for online review. Go to in-person pediatric emergency care.
What parents usually notice.
- High-pitched sound while breathing in
- Noisy breathing since infancy
- Barking cough or recurrent croup
- Feeding difficulty, blue episodes or poor growth
Common reasons doctors think about.
- Laryngomalacia in infants
- Croup or airway swelling
- Subglottic stenosis or airway narrowing
- Tracheomalacia/bronchomalacia
- Foreign body or severe obstruction in urgent cases
What a pediatric pulmonologist checks.
- Timing of sound: in, out or both
- Videos of sound if safe
- Growth, feeding and cyanosis episodes
- ENT/pulmonology airway evaluation when needed
What not to do blindly.
- Do not call stridor asthma
- Do not delay emergency care if child is struggling, drooling or blue
- Do not force throat examination in severe distress
- Do not ignore noisy breathing from infancy with poor growth
Related guides.
Bronchoscopy is not for every cough. It is considered when airway anatomy, foreign body, unusual infection, recurrent focal pneumonia, or unexplained ...
A sudden choking episode followed by cough, wheeze or recurrent pneumonia in one area needs urgent consideration of a foreign body....
Wheeze is a musical sound from narrowed breathing tubes. A first episode should be assessed safely, especially in babies or if breathing effort is hig...