Through a stethoscope, rhonchi sound like continuous, low-pitched snoring, rumbling, or gurgling noises, similar to a snore. They're caused by blocked large airways (trachea, bronchi) due to thick mucus, secretions, or lesions, and often sound louder during exhalation but can change or clear with coughing.
Rhonchi are continuous low-pitched, rattling lung sounds that often resemble snoring. Obstruction or secretions in larger airways are frequent causes of rhonchi. They can be heard in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), bronchiectasis, pneumonia, chronic bronchitis, or cystic fibrosis.
Your doctor will listen to your lungs with a stethoscope. If you have pneumonia, your lungs may make crackling, bubbling, and rumbling sounds when you inhale. If your doctor suspects you may have pneumonia, they will probably recommend some tests to confirm the diagnosis and learn more about your infection.
Rhonchi (plural of the word rhonchus) are continuous, low-pitched sounds that are best heard when you're breathing out (also called “expiration”). The sound might move around to different parts of your chest when you cough, moving mucus around.
Rhonchi are low-pitched sounds in the larger airways heard during exhalation and can be relieved by coughing. Rales, also known as crackles, are high or low-pitched sounds heard during inhalation and are not relieved by coughing.
Wheezing Lung Sounds
A wheeze (or sibilant rhonchus) is a continuous, high-pitched lung sound. Wheezing may be easier to hear when you breathe out, but sometimes you can hear it when you're breathing in and out. You may even be able to hear wheezing without a stethoscope.
Sonorous Wheezes (Rhonchi)
Pneumonia, chronic bronchitis and cystic fibrosis are conditions that commonly present with rhonchi. Coughing can sometimes temporarily clear this breath sound and alter its quality.
Your doctor will start by asking about your medical history and doing a physical exam, including listening to your lungs with a stethoscope to check for abnormal bubbling or crackling sounds that suggest pneumonia.
Rales can be further described as moist, dry, fine, and coarse. Rhonchi. Sounds that resemble snoring. They occur when air is blocked or air flow becomes rough through the large airways.
Pneumonia has a higher fever (101 to 105 degrees F, or 38 to 40 degrees C) and a cough that produces phlegm (wet or productive cough). If you have pneumonia, you may require several days of bed rest or even hospitalization. Walking pneumonia feels like a bad cold or the flu.
Patients with rhonchi may experience symptoms such as shortness of breath, coughing, wheezing, and chest discomfort. These symptoms can range from mild to severe, depending on the underlying cause and extent of airway obstruction. For patients, the most immediate effect of rhonchi is impaired breathing.
There are three types of abnormal bronchial breath sounds: tubular, cavernous, and amphoric. Other abnormal breath sounds include rales, rhonchi, stridor, and wheezing. These can sometimes indicate an underlying respiratory issue that requires attention.
If you have bronchitis, to help you feel better, you may want to try the following self-care measures:
How do you know your lungs are healthy? If your breathing is natural, comes easily and not forced, is steady and makes you feel good, or is so regular you do not notice it at all, your lungs are most likely healthy.
How do you test for walking pneumonia? One is a nose or throat swab, similar to a COVID test, looks for genetic pieces of the M. pneumoniae bacteria. Some facilities may offer a respiratory pathogens panel, in which one swab is tested for a bunch of different viruses and bacteria at the same time.
Early signs of pneumonia often mimic cold or flu but worsen, including fever, chills, cough (with or without mucus), fatigue, and shortness of breath, sometimes with chest pain, rapid breathing, headache, and loss of appetite, notes Healthdirect, Better Health Channel, American Lung Association, and Mayo Clinic. In older adults, confusion or disorientation can be a key sign, while infants might show restlessness or feeding difficulties, say Healthdirect, Mayo Clinic, and WebMD.
Wheezes are musical high-pitched sounds associated with airway diseases such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Rhonchi are musical low-pitched sounds similar to snores, usually indicating secretions in the airway, and are often cleared by coughing1.
Mild wheezing that occurs along with symptoms of a cold or upper respiratory infection does not always need to be treated. See a healthcare professional if you don't know why you're wheezing, your wheezing keeps coming back or it happens along with any of these symptoms: Trouble breathing. Rapid breathing.
Low-pitched or “snoring” sounds that are continuous characterize rhonchi. These sounds generally are associated with large airway obstruction, typically from secretions lining the airways.