What should you know about trouble breathing and cough?

A cough may accompany a common cold or acute bronchitis, while wheeze, chest tightness and breathlessness are common presentations of asthma. Nasal drainage from allergic rhinitis, acid reflux and long-lasting airway conditions can also trigger coughing. The nature of the cough matters: note whether it is dry or phlegmy, sudden or gradual, and whether fever, wheeze or chest pain is present.

Breathing difficulty can change quickly. The symptom pattern does not identify one condition by itself, so a clinician may listen to your chest, check oxygen levels and decide whether further assessment is needed.

Stop strenuous activity, sit upright and avoid smoke or other known irritants. Drink fluids if you can swallow normally, and use a prescribed reliever inhaler exactly as directed. Record when the symptoms started and any trigger such as exercise, a cold or an allergen.

Arrange medical review if the cough persists, keeps returning, disrupts sleep or comes with wheezing. Do not start antibiotics or someone else’s inhaler without advice.

Call emergency services for severe or rapidly worsening breathlessness, blue or grey lips, inability to speak normally, confusion, collapse, coughing blood or severe chest pain. A child who is struggling to breathe, drawing in around the ribs or becoming unusually sleepy also needs immediate help.

Ask what may be triggering the cough, whether you need breathing tests or imaging, how to use any inhaler, and which changes should prompt urgent review.