Shortness of breath might not be anything to worry about, but sometimes it can be serious and you'll need to get medical help.

Call 999 if you're struggling to breathe or have sudden shortness of breath and:

• your chest feels tight or heavy
• you have pain that spread to your arms, back, neck and jaw
• you feel or are being sick

You could be having a heart attack or a problem with your lungs or airway.

Call 999 immediately as you need treatment in hospital.

See your GP if you have shortness of breath and:

• it's lasted for longer than a month
• it gets worse when you have been active
• it gets worse when you lie down
• you have been coughing for 3 weeks or more
• you have swollen ankles

It's important to get medical advice to make sure it's nothing serious. You're not wasting anyone's time by getting it checked out.

Causes of shortness of breath

Shortness of breath has lots of different causes.

Common causes include:

• asthma
• chest infection
• being overweight
• smoking
• panic attack.

But sometimes shortness of breath could be a sign of something more serious, such as

• a lung condition called chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
• scarring of the lungs known as idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis
• heart failure
• lung cancer.

Any treatment you may need depends on what's causing your symptoms.

Don't try to self-diagnose the cause of your shortness of breath - always see a GP.

Coping with shortness of breath

If you know what's causing your shortness of breath, you can get advice about things you and other people can do to help.

• British Lung Foundation: breathlessness

• Supporting someone with breathlessness website: advice for family, friends and carers of people with COPD or cancer