Using a stethoscope, a doctor or nurse can listen for normal, decreased, or absent breath, and abnormal breath sounds.

Having fewer or no sounds can mean:

• Air or fluid in or around the lungs (such as pneumonia, heart failure, and pleural effusion)
• Increased thickness of the chest wall
• Over-inflation of a part of the lungs (emphysema can cause this)
• Reduced airflow to part of the lungs

Abnormal breath sounds can take many different forms. The following are the four most typical types:

• Rales. The lungs make tiny clicking, bubbling, or rattling sounds. When an individual inhales, they are heard. They are thought to occur when closed air spaces are opened by air. Rales can also be described as dry, fine, moist, and coarse.
• Rhonchi. Sounds similar to snoring They occur when the large airways become congested or when air flow becomes turbulent.
• Stridor. a sound that sounds like a wheeze when someone breathes. A blockage of airflow in the windpipe (trachea) or the back of the throat is typically the cause.