Symptoms of Occupational Asthma

What Are The Symptoms of Occupational Asthma?

The main symptoms of Occupational Asthma are essentially the same as those for other types of Asthma. These include:

Wheezing – as the airflow to the lungs becomes restricted you may be able to hear the lungs struggling to pass air in and out. In some cases this may only happen at night when the body is at rest, or when it can be more noticeable due to the lack of other background noises. It can also become a regular feature of a sufferer’s breathing; partially to do with the increased amount of mucus within the lungs and the noise of the lungs struggling to inhale and exhale sufficient oxygen.

Coughing – the lungs automatically want to operate as effectively as possible and so any increase in the amount of mucus within the airways is dealt with by coughing: a protective reflex which tries to rid the windpipe or the bronchial tubes of anything that is blocking or irritating them.

Shortness of breath – if the linings of the lungs become inflamed or the airways are restricted in any way it can reduce the ability of the lungs to breathe normally and so the body cannot take in sufficient oxygen to perform as it should. In these situations the sufferer needs to reduce the amount of energy his or her body expends so that the amount of oxygen required can be reduced.

Tightness in the chest – when an asthma attack occurs the muscles surrounding the airways become tight and the lining of the airways swell, making breathing more difficult and reducing the amount of air that the lungs can process. As well as the difficulty in taking in sufficient air, the sufferer may feel the tightening of the muscles that feel as though the chest is being constricted.

Additional symptoms of occupational asthma can include:

Itching, sneezing and / or a runny nose. All of these symptoms point to the potential development of an allergy or the body trying to deal with an irritant that has yet to cause the tell-tale sighs of asthma.

Inflammation of the eyes, irritation of the eyes or frequent tearing can all be signs that the body is struggling to cope with an allergen or irritant within the air.

The signs that point to Occupational Asthma rather than traditional asthma usually link to how or when the symptoms become exacerbated: if they increase while at work and decrease while away from work (whether in the evenings or when the sufferer has time away from work such as holidays, weekends etc) then it is likely that the issue comes from the workplace and hence can be diagnosed as Occupational, rather than other types of asthma.

Contact us today for free, no obligation advice regarding your work-related asthma claim – either by calling us free on 0800 122 3130, or by requesting a free call back, whereby one of our team will contact you at a time of your choice, to discuss your situation.

We’re here to help – contact us today.