Chest tightness, shortness of breath and wheezing are all common symptoms of asthma in adults and children. Things that you are exposed to every day could be triggering those uncomfortable symptoms.

Dr. Sunil Pammi is a pulmonary critical care specialist with Lee Memorial Health System. He says, “If there are environmental issues and we remove those environmental issues for example if you work in an area with dust, aerosols or paint any types of chemicals if we remove you from that atmosphere that could help.”

Aspects of your home environment can also be asthma triggers. “If you recently got a pet or a dog and that’s been triggering your asthma if we remove the pet from the home or at least control the dander in the home and give you some tips like that we can help reduce the symptoms almost to none,” says Dr. Pammi. Along with pet dander and dust, cigarette smoke may be one of the biggest contributors to developing asthma symptoms especially in children. If you’re exposed to second hand smoke you can also develop asthma from that as well we know that’s well documented in children. Even as adults, if your partner smokes or if there is smoking in the house this can trigger your asthma as well.”

Dr. Pammi adds that it’s important for people experiencing asthma symptoms to visit a specialist. Because there are so many different factors in why a person develops asthma, treatment plans can be different for everyone. One out of four Americans suffers from asthma or allergy related conditions.