Bronchospasm: Symptoms, Causes, and Treatment

Bronchospasms occur when your airways constrict, or narrow, causing you to have difficulty breathing. Bronchospasm treatment usually starts with inhaled medications called bronchodilators.

Bronchospasms can have a number of different causes, but some of the most common are asthma, allergies, and environmental irritants.

Bronchospasms make your chest feel tight and are usually accompanied by coughing. If your airways constrict too much, you will be unable to breathe in deep enough. If your oxygen levels get too low, this can become a medical emergency.

This article discusses bronchospasm symptoms, causes, diagnosis, treatment, and alternative therapies.

What Are Bronchospasms?

Bronchospasms happen when the muscles in your airways tighten and narrow, resulting in wheezing, coughing, and other symptoms. Bronchospasms are part of why it can be hard to breathe when you're having an asthma attack or an allergic reaction.

If you've ever been in a home with old water pipes, you can hear a high-pitched noise as water flows through them. This high-pitched noise is caused by narrow pipes. Like narrow water pipes, when your airways constrict during a bronchospasm, you will hear a whistling noise when you breathe, known as a wheeze.

Bronchospasm interferes with these mechanisms, preventing your respiratory system from working properly.

Symptoms of Bronchospasm

Experiencing symptoms of bronchospasm can be very stressful and frightening, as you will feel like you are not getting enough air. For this reason, you may need to seek emergency medical attention.

Common symptoms that may be associated with bronchospasms include:

• Wheezing
• Chest tightness
• Shortness of breath
• Difficulty breathing (dyspnea)

An episode of bronchospasm may take between seven and 14 days to go away.

Fatigue and exhaustion are other less common and more subtle symptoms that may be associated with bronchospasm. Because these symptoms can be frightening, it is good to have a clear medical plan for prevention and treatment if you have any of these symptoms.

What Causes Bronchospasm?

There are many potential causes of bronchospasm. Asthma is a major contributor and risk factor for developing bronchospasm. However, just because you have asthma does not mean that you will have bronchospasms.

If you experience a bronchospasm during surgery, your anesthesiologist or nurse anesthetist will be properly trained to manage your airway. You may require additional monitoring during the post-operation period if you had a bronchospasm during your surgery.

Diagnosis

Under most circumstances, the diagnosis of bronchospasm will be determined by medical examination. When you are being seen by a medical professional, they will put a pulse oximeter on your finger to estimate the oxygen saturation of your blood cells (although the pulse oximeter could also be placed on a toe or taped to your forehead). Unless you have another underlying disease that restricts oxygen transfer in your lungs, your pulse oximeter reading should be greater than 90%.

If they are unable to get adequate readings, they can directly check the oxygen in your arteries by drawing blood from an artery in your wrist, which is known as an arterial blood gas test.

The wrist is a sensitive area so it may sting a little when blood is being drawn. Because the blood is being drawn from an artery (not a vein), there is high pressure in the artery and will require applying pressure with gauze and a dressing until the artery has time to heal.

If your healthcare provider is concerned about other causes of wheezing or shortness of breath, you may get an X-ray. Other, more extensive testing is typically not required during an acute episode of bronchospasm.

After the bronchospasm has passed, you may be referred to a pulmonologist for further evaluations including a CT scan, pulmonary function testing, or exercise testing to further identify the cause of your bronchospasms or symptoms.

Future episodes of bronchospasm may not require additional testing other than monitoring your oxygen levels to ensure your safety.

Bronchospasm Treatment

Treatment of bronchospasm usually starts with bronchodilators—inhaled medications that help open up your airways. The most commonly used bronchodilators are short-acting beta2-agonists, such as Ventolin or Proventil (albuterol).

If you have high blood pressure and are on beta-blockers like Lopressor (metoprolol), or Inderal (propanolol), tell your healthcare provider. These medications can block some of the effects of albuterol. You should always carry a rescue inhaler to help delay emergencies, giving you time to seek medical attention if you have a repeat episode of bronchospasm.

If you have underlying asthma, you may be given prednisone orally or methylprednisolone via IV if needed to help reduce inflammation involved in narrowing your airways. Your healthcare provider will likely recommend you gradually taper down the prednisone dosage over several days to help reduce the risk of a recurrence.

If you experience hypoxia and are unable to maintain your oxygen levels (even with supplemental oxygen) due to severe constriction of your airways, mask ventilation may be started. This may allow time for medications to take effect and avoid intubation. If intubation is needed, a breathing tube would be placed to protect your airway and maintain appropriate oxygen levels.

Coping With Bronchospasm

Experiencing bronchospasm can be very scary. The number one way to cope with bronchospasms is to reduce their occurrence.

If you experience bronchospasms due to asthma, having both long-term and short-term inhalers or nebulizers can help you avoid bronchospasm in the future.

Alternative Therapies

Although some studies have shown breathing retraining techniques may improve quality of life, hyperventilation symptoms, and lung function, more research is needed. These methods are not a replacement for emergency medical evaluation. If you have severe symptoms, you should seek evaluation. No one breathing method is recognized in current international guidelines.

The Buteyko breathing technique was founded by Russian physician Konstantine Buteyko. He proposed that in people with asthma, worsening shortness of breath was caused by hyperventilation. His technique is thought to cause hypoventilation, which increases the carbon dioxide levels in your blood, which may have a bronchodilation effect to help minimize your shortness of breath.

It is reported that using the Buteyko breathing retraining exercises can reduce the need for albuterol. Participants in these studies also reported an improvement in their quality of life in relation to asthma. There are several other techniques, such as the Papworth breathing technique and Pink City Lung Exerciser. However, these are not as well studied as the Buteyko method.

Yoga and acupuncture are two other alternative therapies that have limited information related to their efficacy in bronchospasm, though it is believed by some to help reduce symptoms related to asthma. If you are a practitioner of yoga, you may notice that pranayama yoga breathing techniques are fairly similar to the Buteyko breathing retraining and you may receive similar benefits.

Many different herbs and oils are thought to have bronchodilatory effects. However, there is limited research showing the long-term effects of eating or inhaling these products. While there are many small studies that look at herbal and oil use for a variety of ailments, they are not sufficiently studied to make any recommendations.

A Word From Verywell

You may not always know that you are susceptible to having bronchospasms before your first one. Seek emergency help if you are having shortness of breath or difficulty breathing. Following your first incidence, it is important to develop a plan of care with your healthcare provider to help reduce your risks of having subsequent episodes of bronchospasm. You may find that alternative therapies such as breathing retraining or yoga may add supplemental help in controlling your symptoms.