Trachea involvement in asthma

[golden-retriever]

Forgive me if this is a dumb question, but I’m relatively new to asthma, with a recent diagnosis. I’ve searched far and wide and can’t figure this out.

The trachea is part of the lower respiratory system and asthma is a lower respiratory condition, but there doesn’t seem to be much information about the involvement of the trachea in asthma. duckduckgo.com/?q=lower+res...

When I have asthma issues, in addition to bubbling in my lungs, wheezing, etc, my lower trachea and the two pipes that branch off from it seem to become constricted. Maybe I’m wrong and it only feels like that.

Because no one ever mentions the trachea, I was under the impression that asthma only occurs inside the lungs, in the smaller bronchi and beyond, and not in the bigger airways.

Is this right, or does asthma affect the trachea? Just curious.

[Msbutterfly]

Hi golden-retriever,

I don't think any question is a dumb question! We're all here to share experiences & help one another, if we can. (At least I hope so! I only joined this afternoon 🤗). As far as I'm aware, (& I'm frequently made aware! Lol! 🥴) the airways (inc. trachea) are most definitely affected by asthma ....... from below the throat to (& including) the lungs. They become inflamed, they swell - which is why it becomes increasingly difficult to breathe - & mucus forms. Pretty noisy too - I'm often laid in my recliner wondering where the strange noises are coming from, (my GSD or, perhaps the fridge?) only to realise it's my chest/airways wheezing & crackling away 🤣.

[golden-retriever in reply to Msbutterfly]

Hey thanks Msbutterfly for your lovely response. And welcome to HealthUnlocked.

What you said was very helpful. For the last few days my trachea feels constricted, starting in the afternoon and getting worse every day. It makes my breath sound higher pitched and it feels like it sounds when someone blows in your ear.

Anyhow, I was confused because I thought asthma only happens in lungs, and maybe the asthma police would get me for breaking the rules.

[Junglechicken]

Asthma doesn’t always read the medical books as to how it “should” behave. It presents differently in all of us. My asthma at the moment is just acting so strangely after my run in with pneumonia. It can effect other parts of the respiratory system, chronic sinusitis is common in asthmatics. As a child I frequently had ear infections as it’s sort of part of the same network. Also your body is a holistic being, knock one thing out it can knock something else out etc. My big bee in the bonnet is during an attack I will have a racing heart rate. This is often the first sign something is wrong. A lot of other users report the same thing. I’ve been on numerous reputable webpages which clearly state that a greatly increased heart rate does happen during a severe attack. For some reason it confuses dr’s and you are told frequently “asthma doesn’t do that” or “it’s your reliever inhaler” even if you haven’t taken it (my inhaler actually brings down my heart rate because I’m dealing with the attack) I’ve printed things off to take to my next GP appointment just to make the point. You can also have perfect stats during an attack which again the medics don’t seem to understand.

[golden-retriever in reply to Junglechicken]

“Asthma doesn’t always read the medical books as to ‘how it should behave’”.

Ha ha. That’s great.

[KhanKhun]

Hi, golden-retriever. I wish this could be of a little help for you.

As far as I understand, trachea is actually upper part of respiratory system and it's connected to lower respiratory pipes called bronchus and bronchiols. Trachea is anatomically wide and thus it's rare to be inflamed enough to make symptoms of asthma by itself. If it's narrowed to obstruct air flow in and out of, since it's the only pipe to all the bronchus and bronchiols connected just below, it's more likely causing symptoms you would need urgent treatment like tracheostomy.

So, simplely, astham also affects trachea and causes inflamation and narrowing of it, but the pipe is quite wide so difficult to make it enough to cause symptoms.

But trachea could be also massively narrowed for someone who got tracheal intubation procedure before and asthma could play a role in people who's trachea is already damaged.

[golden-retriever in reply to KhanKhun]

Hi KhanKhun,

Thanks for your reply. The trachea is definitely part of the lower respiratory tract...

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Res...

slideplayer.com/slide/45448...

...but what you said was nevertheless very interesting. Let me just clarify, as I said above, that it appears with my other asthma symptoms and it appears around at the lower part of my trachea where it branches into the primary bronchi. It’s also relieved by Ventolin along with everything else.

Perhaps there is damage there.

[Wheezycat in reply to golden-retriever]

I have been told by medics that your respiratory system starts at the bottom of your lungs and ends at the tip of your nose. If one part is inflamed it could spread. There are no ‘borders’ as it were.

[jelbem]

I have my asthma under control by and large but have chronic sinus issues which require an op but which specialist thinks probably won’t help! I am prone to pharyngitis and last year for the first time noticed a gurgling into my left side when lying down. The out of hours doctor in Cumbria (visiting mother in law at the time) said it was hay fever! After two visits to A&E in Kent - sent by 111 - the consultant diagnosed bacterial pneumonia! Mother in law now with me in Kent and had a chest infection. I have the same issues as last year! This time I am on my second course of antibiotics - given amoxicillin first time despite telling the GP it won’t work! - and the windpipe is the problem once again! I have had my pneumonia jab.

[emmasue]

Good question. I have been told the Trachea is part of the upper respiratory system. Last time I was with the asthma nurse, I was struggling with breathlessness and had a bit of a wheeze. The nurse said the wheeze was actually in my upper respiratory system and not in the lungs. I have a feeling that this happens a lot because I will hear a wheeze but the doctors will say my lungs are clear. So you can get a wheeze with an upper respiratory problem, just don't know what to do about it.

[golden-retriever in reply to emmasue]

Hi emmasue, thanks for your reply.

It doesn’t matter where I look (Wikipedia, Mayo Clinic, etc), they all say that the trachea is part of the lower respiratory system; and no article or medical description of asthma I’ve ever read has ever said “lower respiratory minus the trachea”.

[emmasue in reply to golden-retriever]

Thanks. I wonder why my medical team always say, "It sounds upper respiratory" and then dismiss the issue. I guess maybe they are looking for a chest infection but if it's in the trachea, then they assume it's viral.

[golden-retriever in reply to emmasue]

Hi emmasue, in everything I’ve read about asthma this was the least clear from everything I needed to know about. I didn’t find anything saying the trachea isn’t involved, but I just couldn’t find much information at all.

[LDloveslattecoffe in reply to emmasue]

Hi Emmasue,

Like you I can get wheeze when lungs clear.

[emmasue in reply to LDloveslattecoffe]

I wish I understood my condition better. I don't think the doctors really understand why I get so ill.

[Junglechicken in reply to LDloveslattecoffe]

Me too.

[Hannah125]

Do bronchodilators also have an effect on the trachea ?

[golden-retriever in reply to Hannah125]

Ventolin has an effect on my trachea.

[Hannah125 in reply to golden-retriever]

Thanks, I always felt like it did but I wasn't sure because I thought it only worked in the lungs.

Also, I sometimes hear a high pitched wheeze during a forced exhalation and it seems to come from the upper part of my chest where the trachea is located. But I've read that wheezing heard during exhaling could only be asthma and lungs. So do you think wheezing can also come from the trachea ?

Thank you!

[golden-retriever in reply to Hannah125]

To be honest, I really don’t know.

I suppose it depends on what kind of wheezing and how bad the constriction is. Conceivably, lower-pitched noise or fluttering could be caused by moderate constriction and lots of mucus in something as wide as the trachea, or the narrower primary bronchi. Whistling would probably be much harder and your trachea would have to be very constricted for that to happen.

The only sound I’m certain originates in my trachea, is that my breath becomes higher in pitch when I’m in asthma mode. Even a garden hose would do the same if you blew through it and squeezed it slightly narrower. I only get this when I have other, more normal, asthma symptoms and it goes away with ventolin.

Any other noise from me, I think, merely passes through my trachea from my lungs.

[golden-retriever in reply to Hannah125]

Thinking about it a bit more, I don’t see any reason why a big dollop of sticky phlegm couldn’t be coughed up, hit the primary bronchi (the two that branch off the trachea) and cause wheezing in a forced expiration.

[Junglechicken in reply to golden-retriever]

Mucus can clog things up and cause a wheeze. Happened to me a few times. Wheezing then a good “huff” and the wheeze is gone. Discovered it during an asthma episode when I blew into my PF meter