Alternative Names
Difficulty breathing - first aid; Dyspnea - first aid; Shortness of breath - first aid
Symptoms:
The following symptoms are often associated with difficulty breathing:
- Gurgling, wheezing, or whistling sounds
- Using chest and neck muscles to breathe
- Bluish lips, fingers, and fingernails
- Cough (if the person also has phlegm/sputum, this may be pneumonia; a barking cough in a child is croup)
- Chest pain (could be a heart attack or injury; sharp chest pain could be pulmonary embolism or collapsed lung)
- Chest moving in an unusual way as the person breathes (may indicate an airway or chest injury)
- Confusion, light-headedness, weakness, or sleepiness
- Fever