I Can't Breath When I Work Out — Can You Help?

It’s normal to find breathing harder when you’re exerting yourself. For example, you’ll have a much easier time conversing with a friend on a stroll than a run. But if you can’t breathe when you work out, it’s time to look into it. 

As specialists in shortness of breath, David Bolon, MD, and our team at Manhattan Integrative Cardiovascular are here to help you understand your exertion-induced breathing difficulties. With diagnostic tools like stress tests and echocardiograms, we can see how your heart is functioning to determine if your shortness of breath is related to a cardiac condition. 

Visit us in Midtown East Manhattan, New York City, so we can figure out what’s behind your difficulty breathing when you exercise. 

Causes of dyspnea during exercise

Medical experts refer to shortness of breath as dyspnea. You might feel like you can’t breathe fast enough or can’t get a deep breath. 

Some exertion-induced dyspnea comes from relatively simple causes like:

• High altitude
• Being out of shape
• Hot temperatures
• Excess weight

You might also have exercise-induced asthma, which means your asthma symptoms kick up as soon as you start breathing faster. 

Other times, a separate health condition like bronchitis affects your breathing ability.

The bottom line is that if you usually have trouble breathing when you work out, it’s not something to ignore. This dyspnea could indicate a serious underlying heart or lung condition. 

Diagnosing your shortness of breath

Here at Manhattan Integrative Cardiovascular, Dr. David Bolon has a range of tools he can deploy to find out what’s behind your trouble breathing. He might order a stress test, for example. During this test, you walk or jog on a treadmill or ride a stationary bike while we monitor your heart so we can see any changes in your body as you exert yourself. 

With stress tests and other diagnostics, Dr. Bolon can check you for heart conditions that cause shortness of breath, including:

• Arrhythmia 
• Cardiac tamponade 
• Coronary artery disease (CAD)
• Heart attack
• Heart failure
• Pericarditis
• Pulmonary hypertension

At our office, Dr. Bolon and our team work with you to discern what’s behind your inability to breathe normally when you’re exercising, allowing us to treat the underlying cause. 

For example, an inhaler you use before you work out often alleviates the issue if it's exercise-induced asthma. If it’s a more serious cardiac condition, Dr. Bolon develops a treatment plan to address it and protect your overall health. 

Don’t let your dyspnea go unaddressed. Call our team at (716) 303-4738 or book your appointment online today to find out what’s behind i