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. Heart disease.
Rales. Small clicking, bubbling, or rattling sounds in the lungs. They are heard when a person breathes in (inhales). They are believed to occur when air opens closed air spaces.
Crackles or Rales
Crackles and rales tend to be short and explosive. Though they may occur with COPD by itself, these sounds usually are present when you also have another condition in addition to COPD that affects the lungs, such as interstitial lung disease or heart failure, says Dr. Siddarthan.
Progressively worsening dyspnea, tachypnea, and rales (or crackles) on examination with associated hypoxia are the clinical features common to both cardiogenic and noncardiogenic pulmonary edema.
diagnosis of cardiovascular sounds
Crackles (also called rales) resemble the sound made by rubbing hair between the fingers next to the ear. They are caused by fluid in the small passageways that adheres to the walls during respiration. Crackles are heard in congestive heart failure and pneumonia.
Crackles (or rales) are caused by fluid in the small airways or atelectasis. Crackles are referred to as discontinuous sounds; they are intermittent, nonmusical and brief. Crackles may be heard on inspiration or expiration.
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) refers to a group of lung conditions that cause breathing-related difficulties. It can give rise to several different lung sounds. COPD can cause a variety of different lung sounds, including rhonchi, wheezing, and crackling.
Breath sounds will reveal bilateral rhonchi or crackles. These will usually be in the lung bases. Unilateral crackles are not indicative of CHF but suggest other diseases such as pneumonia.
A person may require antibiotics if the crackles have resulted from bacterial pneumonia or bronchitis. Doctors may also prescribe steroids to decrease inflammation in the lungs. Many causes of bibasilar crackles lead to shortness of breath. Oxygen therapy can help to make breathing easier.
Rales: bubbling or crackling sound. Rales on one side of chest and rales heard while patient is lying down are strongly suggestive of pneumonia. Rhonchi: abnormal rumblings indicating presence of thick fluid.
Although some investigators have reported that crackles are present only in persons with lung disease, others say they also occur in normal persons.
Coarse Crackles are low pitched lungs sounds heard in pathologies such as chronic bronchitis, bronchiectasis, pneumonia, and severe pulmonary edema. Compared to fine crackles, they are often louder, longer in duration and lower in pitch.
These popping sounds are created when air is forced through airways that have been narrowed by mucus, pus or other fluids. Rales are frequently associated with inflamed or infected small bronchi, bronchioles, and alveoli. Crackles and rales mean the same thing.
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. Causes of crackling include: pneumonia.
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.
Rales: Rales are slight bubbling, clicking, or rattling sounds in the lungs. The sounds occur as incoming air opens up closed air spaces in the lungs. As such, a person may notice these sounds as they breathe in. Rhonchi: Rhonchi are harsh, rattling sounds that resemble snoring.
Even though crackles can be heard without a stethoscope, distinguishing them from other lung sounds can be challenging without proper training and experience. Individuals with a severe respiratory infection or pneumonia may produce loud crackles that are audible without a stethoscope.
And by that, he means any kind of chest discomfort, including the “elephant sitting on my chest” feeling, but also sharp pains, a burning sensation, or a tugging feeling in the chest, all of which could be your heart's way of saying it is not getting enough oxygen.