Your doctor will start with questions about your symptoms and your medical history, like whether you smoke and whether you've been around sick people at home, school, or work. Then, they'll listen to your lungs. If you have pneumonia, they might hear cracking, bubbling, or rumbling sounds when you breathe in.
Your doctor will listen to your lungs with a stethoscope. If you have pneumonia, your lungs may make crackling, bubbling, and rumbling sounds when you inhale.
Crackling (Rales)
You can have fine crackles, which are shorter and higher in pitch, or coarse crackles, which are lower. Either can be a sign that there's fluid in your air sacs. They can be caused by: Pneumonia.
However, some patients do not have abnormal lung sounds, even in the presence of pneumonia. Furthermore, lung findings during physical examination can be evanescent and may change substantially, even in a few minutes.
Your doctor can tell that you have pneumonia and not just a cold by listening with a stethoscope for crackle sounds in your chest. You may need a chest x-ray or blood tests to know for sure that you have pneumonia. If bacteria caused your pneumonia, your doctor can give you antibiotics, drugs that kill bacteria.
Fever, sweating and shaking chills. Lower than normal body temperature (in adults older than age 65 and people with weak immune systems). Nausea, vomiting or diarrhea. Shortness of breath.
Shortness of breath or fast, shallow breathing. Bluish tint to lips and/or fingertips. High fever, sweating, shaking chills. Sharp or stabbing chest pain that gets worse when you inhale deeply or cough.
Symptoms usually appear within two to three weeks of becoming infected and can continue for weeks. A cough could continue for months. With walking pneumonia, you may feel like you have a cold. But symptoms are usually mild, so you likely won't need bed rest or a hospital stay.
Individuals with a severe respiratory infection or pneumonia may produce loud crackles that are audible without a stethoscope. Those with fluid buildup in their lungs may also produce detectable sounds.
Walking pneumonia symptoms include: Dry cough that's persistent and typically gets worse at night.
Don't try to run back to work and infect everyone else. Rest until you feel better. Whatever you do, don't smoke, it will only make your pneumonia worse. If your pneumonia is really severe or you have another serious health problem, your doctor may recommend that you get treated in the hospital.
Recovery also typically requires a lot of bed rest. Lying down on your back for an extended period of time can allow fluid or mucus to gather in your lungs. This gives bacteria a place to grow.
Sleeping with your head elevated can reduce coughing and improve breathing. Use an extra pillow or a wedge pillow to elevate your head and chest while sleeping. Dehydration can make pneumonia symptoms worse and make it harder to sleep. Be sure to drink plenty of water throughout the day.
These four stages of pneumonia are congestion, red hepatization, gray hepatization, and resolution, respectively.
See your doctor to rule out pneumonia if shortness of breath, cough, or chest congestion also develop. Seek emergency care at a Dignity Health ER or urgent care clinic for the following symptoms: Bluish color of the lips or fingernails. Confusion or lethargy.
Pneumonia testing is generally not available at home.
If you have pneumonia, they might hear cracking, bubbling, or rumbling sounds when you breathe in. If your doctor thinks you might have pneumonia, they'll probably give you tests, including: Blood tests to look for signs of a bacterial infection. A chest X-ray to find the infection in your lungs and how far it's spread.
Walking pneumonia is usually diagnosed through a physical examination. The doctor will check your child's breathing and listen for a hallmark crackling sound that often indicates walking pneumonia. If needed, a chest X-ray or tests of mucus samples from the throat or nose might be done to confirm the diagnosis.
High fever up to 105 F. Coughing out greenish, yellow, or bloody mucus. Chills that make you shake. Feeling like you can't catch your breath, especially when you move around a lot.
Feeling like you can't catch your breath, especially when you move around a lot. Feeling very tired. Loss of appetite. Sharp or stabbing chest pain (you might feel it more when you cough or take a deep breath)
Walking pneumonia is an infection of the lungs caused by the mycoplasma bacteria. This form of pneumonia is usually mild and feels like a chest cold, but it can get worse.
Crackles occur as a result of small airways suddenly snapping open. They may indicate that a person's lungs have fluid inside them or are not inflating correctly.