What are the symptoms of asthma?
Asthma has characteristic symptoms that may be familiar to you. These include:
– Coughing
– Wheezing
– Shortness of breath
– Chest tightness
If you have an asthma flare-up, these symptoms can cause complications that make it hard to breathe. Asthma attacks can be managed with medications.
How do I know if I have allergies or sinusitis?
Sinusitis, or a sinus infection, causes many of the same symptoms as allergies. With sinusitis, however, you may run a fever. A fever isn’t typical with allergies, but allergies can cause watery eyes, a symptom that doesn’t occur with sinusitis.
If you have a sinus infection, our healthcare provider can prescribe antibiotics to help resolve the infection and your symptoms. If a sinus infection isn’t treated, it can lead to bronchitis — which is infection and swelling in your bronchial tubes. Bronchitis is accompanied by heavy chest congestion, a loose cough, and body aches and fever.
How are allergies and asthma diagnosed?
If our healthcare provider suspects you have an allergy, she may do a skin test, which involves performing a slight puncture in your skin and applying a liquid version of suspected allergens onto the site. You’re monitored for a reaction, and redness, swelling, or itching at the site indicates an allergy. In some cases, a blood test is required to diagnose a severe allergy.
If she suspects you have asthma, our healthcare provider performs specific lung function tests and possibly a chest X-ray.
If you’re having upper respiratory symptoms that suggest asthma or allergies, call Paradise Valley Medical Group or book an appointment online today.
