Over 39 Years of Experience in the Field of Medicine | Contact Us | 985-664-1172
Over 39 Years of Experience in the Field of Medicine | Contact Us | 985-664-1172
A pulmonologist is a doctor who specializes in lung conditions. A pulmonologist diagnoses and treats diseases of the respiratory system. You might hear these healthcare providers called lung doctors, lung specialists or chest doctors.
In addition to your lungs, your respiratory system includes your nose, throat, trachea, airways, muscles and blood vessels.
A pulmonologist can diagnose and treat diseases of the respiratory system. They might have certain areas that they specialize in, like critical care, asthma or sleep medicine. They might also specialize in treating children (a pediatric pulmonologist) or the elderly (a geriatric pulmonologist).
If you have symptoms that your regular healthcare provider isn’t able to help you with, or if they think you would be better off seeing a specialist, they might refer you to a pulmonologist.
Some of these signs and symptoms might include:
If you’ve already been diagnosed with a respiratory condition, you may continue having scheduled appointments to manage your illness.
If it’s your first appointment with a pulmonologist, you should be ready to fill out a medical history and have a physical examination. During this time, you can talk with your healthcare provider about the reasons you’re there and explain the details of your symptoms. You might find it helpful to come prepared with paper and pen to provide information like how long symptoms have lasted and to remember questions you want your healthcare provider to answer.
Your healthcare provider might order some tests to help with diagnosis and treatment. These might include:
If you do have an illness that needs long-term management, you’ll want to continue keeping your appointments as scheduled and to follow recommendations. You may have to repeat these tests later so your healthcare provider knows how well treatment is working.
Pulmonologists treat conditions of the respiratory system, especially of the lungs. These conditions can be caused by things like inflammation, tissue overgrowth and infections. Many of these illnesses may require long-term, even lifelong, treatment plans. Your pulmonologist will work with your primary care doctor, and possibly other specialists, on treatment plans.
Some illnesses treated or managed by pulmonologists include, but aren’t limited to:
A pulmonologist can also treat occupation-related lung diseases like:
Credit: ClevelandClinic.org
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