Wheezing
COPD usually causes wheezing, a symptom often associated with asthma and allergies. Wheezing is the high-pitched whistle or crackle that can be heard when a person inhales and exhales. The symptom occurs when the airways have become narrow and tight. As air moves through the constricted passageways, the walls start to vibrate, and that causes the wheezing sound.
Anytime someone with COPD breathes in something like pollution or tobacco smoke, they risk wheezing, because their lungs are already weakened and become quickly irritated. Also, wheezing can occur when people with COPD experience what is known as a “bronchospasm,” where the muscles within in the airway tighten up suddenly.
Wheezing will not occur every single day but can happen any time of the day and will usually be partnered with shortness of breath and tightness in the chest.
