Asthma and Wheezing

Asthma is a long term condition where the airways swell and tighten. Asthma attack symptoms include wheezing, coughing, chest tightness, and shortness of breath. Most flares improve with a rescue inhaler, but some need treatment in the clinic.

What Is It

During an asthma attack, the muscles around the airways squeeze and the lining swells and fills with mucus. Colds, flu, smoke, allergies, cold air, and exercise are common triggers. Wheezing is a high whistling sound when you breathe out. Asthma is one of the most common long term illnesses in children.

Symptoms

Wheezing or whistling when breathing out
Coughing, often worse at night or with exercise
Chest tightness
Shortness of breath
Needing your rescue inhaler more often than usual
In kids, fast breathing or tiredness with play

Not sure it’s asthma? In babies and young children, wheezing during a cold is often caused by a virus like RSV. A cold is the most common trigger of asthma flares in children.

Treatment

At your visit: A provider checks your oxygen level and listens to your lungs. Treatment may include a nebulizer breathing treatment and medicine to calm airway swelling. Reviewing inhaler technique and your asthma action plan helps prevent flares.

At home:

Use your rescue inhaler as your action plan directs
Sit upright and take slow, steady breaths
Stay away from smoke and other triggers
Keep using your daily controller medicine

Most mild flares settle within a few hours to a few days.

When to Get Care for Asthma and Wheezing

Watch at Home

Mild wheezing that clears with your rescue inhaler
Able to talk in full sentences
Rescue inhaler lasting 4 hours or more

Come to Urgent Care Today

Needing your rescue inhaler every 4 hours or more often
Wheezing or coughing that keeps you up at night
A flare during a cold or flu
Out of rescue inhaler, or it is not working as well
First time wheezing in an adult or older child

Go to the Emergency Department

Struggling to breathe, or unable to speak in full sentences
Lips or fingernails turning blue or gray
Ribs or neck pulling in with each breath
A rescue inhaler not helping, or needed every 20 minutes
Very sleepy, confused, or hard to wake

FAQ

What does an asthma attack feel like?

An asthma attack feels like a tight chest and trouble getting air out, often with wheezing and coughing. Breathing gets faster, and talking in full sentences can become hard.

What should I do during an asthma attack?

During an asthma attack, sit upright, use your rescue inhaler as your action plan directs, and breathe slowly. If it does not help within 20 minutes, get emergency care.

What causes wheezing?

Wheezing is caused by narrowed airways, most often from asthma or a viral infection like a cold or RSV. Allergies, smoke, and bronchitis can also cause it.

When is wheezing an emergency?

Wheezing is an emergency when you struggle to breathe, cannot speak in full sentences, or have blue lips. Call 911 if a rescue inhaler does not help.

Can urgent care treat an asthma attack?

Yes, urgent care can treat a mild to moderate asthma attack. At Vitality Urgent Care, a provider can check your oxygen level and give a nebulizer breathing treatment when needed.

Can children outgrow asthma?

Some children with asthma have fewer symptoms as they grow, but asthma often returns later. Children who wheeze only with colds are more likely to outgrow it.

Last reviewed October 2026