What happens after spirometry?

Spirometry compares the air you can breathe out with how quickly you can do it. The clinician considers the pattern, your symptoms, examination, smoking history, and any medicine used during the appointment. The result can support assessment of asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or other breathing problems, but it does not by itself explain every cause of breathlessness. If the test quality was limited or the pattern is unclear, repeat spirometry or another lung assessment may be suggested.

Ask when and how you will receive the result. Continue prescribed medicines unless your clinician gives different instructions, and bring your inhalers to follow-up so technique can be checked. If smoking is contributing to symptoms, discuss support for stopping. Keep a record of cough, wheeze, breathlessness, triggers, and night waking; these details can help match treatment to your daily pattern.

Seek urgent help for severe breathing difficulty, blue or grey lips, chest pain, fainting, confusion, or an inability to speak in full sentences. Contact your clinician promptly if breathlessness is worsening, reliever medicine is not helping as directed, or you develop fever with a marked change in your breathing.

Ask whether the test was reliable, what the pattern means alongside your symptoms, and whether bronchodilator response or another test is needed. Clarify how to use your inhaler, what action to take during a flare, and when your breathing should be reviewed.