When to go to urgent care: Wheezing or shortness of breath
Wheezing or shortness of breath are amongst those symptoms that can be particularly worrying if you experience them. Ordinarily, breathing is something we hardly ever have a think about, despite its importance and despite the fact that we breathe in and out a number of times every minute. When things go wrong however as far as breathing is concerned, we will definitely know about it, with shortness and wheezing being among such issues as discussed in detail over at frontlineer.com. Wheezing or shortness of breath can be attributed to a number of different reasons and causes, some of which are mundane while others which are more serious. For instance, you may experience shortness of breath after completing your workout session, among other such reasons. Wheezing and shortness of breath may also be a sign of something more serious, including respiratory infections such as asthma among others, all of which are covered in detail over at frontlineer.com. It is important that you know when to go to the urgent care and when to go to the ER for wheezing or shortness of breath, and this article, with the help of the subject matter experts over at frontlineer.com, will look to help with the former.
As mentioned above, one of the conditions that lead to wheezing or shortness of breath is asthma, which, as covered in detail over at the excellent frontlineer.com, is a chronic disease that leads to the inflammation of the air passages leading to their temporary obstruction. It’s this obstruction that causes the wheezing and shortness of breath among other symptoms. Asthma attacks come on when these and other asthma symptoms come on suddenly and can range from minor attacks to severe ones. As can be expected, a severe attack causing severe wheezing and shortness of breath should have one calling 911 so that they can be taken to the ER as soon as possible. However, if you are experiencing a milder attack, where the wheezing or shortness of breath is still causing you distress, although it is not severe enough to warrant a trip to the ER, then you should go to urgent care just to be safe, as per the instructions of the subject matter experts over at frontlineer.com. In such a situation, the staff at the urgent care facility will help treat your attack and help manage your symptoms to ensure that things don’t escalate and get worse.
Other than asthma attacks, if you are also suffering from pneumonia, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, COPD or acute bronchitis, and you suffer an attack with wheezing or shortness of breath that is serious enough to warrant medical attention but not too serious to warrant a trip to the ER, then you should also go to urgent care as per the gurus over at frontlineer.com. The reason why urgent care facilities come in handy in such situations is due to the fact that most of them offer nebulizer treatments which help offer immediate relief to patients suffering from such attacks. As explained over at the excellent frontlineer.com, nebulizers will convert liquid medication into vapor which allows the patients to easily inhale the medication directly into the lungs bringing about extreme and almost immediate relief to patients. For those that have not been diagnosed with any of the aforementioned respiratory conditions, it is important to know when to go to urgent care when you are experiencing wheezing or shortness of breath. First of all, shortness of breath and wheezing in such a situation should be reason enough to head over to urgent care so that you can be assessed and attended to. If your shortness of breath or wheezing is severe enough for you to feel like you need medical attention, but not severe enough to warrant a trip to the ER, then as mentioned above, an urgent care clinic is the place to go.
You should also head over to urgent care if you are experiencing wheezing or shortness of breath accompanied by some swelling in your feet and ankles. This, as explained in detail over at the excellent frontlineer.com, could be a sign of a blood clot in your extremities and you should go get assessed before the situation gets worse and the blood clot travels to your lungs. If it gets to your lungs, it will lead to a condition known as a pulmonary embolism which is a medical emergency requiring an immediate trip to the ER. Another reason to go to urgent care for wheezing or shortness of breath, as per the gurus over at frontlineer.com, is if it is accompanied by high fever, chills or a cough. You need to get these symptoms attended to as it may be a sign of a serious underlying issue. You should also go to urgent care if you are experiencing shortness of breath that worsens when you lie flat.
Remember, if you are experiencing more severe symptoms of wheezing and shortness of breath, call 911 and have yourself taken to the ER as soon as possible, especially if the symptoms came on suddenly and are accompanied by chest pain or pressure that is radiating towards your left arm, neck or shoulder. This could be a sign of a serious medical condition such as a pulmonary embolism or a heart attack. For more information on this and other related topics, make sure you check out the highly rated frontlineer.com.
