Coarse: Coarse crackles occur in the larger bronchi tubes and are loud, low pitched, and last longer than fine crackles.The bronchi branch off into smaller and smaller passageways, which eventually lead to air sacs called alveoli. Medium: These result from air bubbling through mucus in the small bronchi - two tubes that carry air from the trachea to the lungs.Fine crackles may occur more frequently during a breath than coarse crackles and only happen during inhalation. Fine: These occur in the small airways and are soft and high pitched.They can sound similar to bubbling, popping, or clicking noises. It is very loud, harsh, and high pitched.Ĭrackles, also known as rales, are intermittent sounds generally audible during inhalation. Normal tracheal breath sound: A doctor can hear this sound over the trachea.However, if a doctor hears a bronchial breath outside the trachea, it could indicate a health issue. The sound is loud, hollow, and high pitched. Bronchial breath sound: The bronchial breath sound is audible over the trachea as a person breathes out.It is also continuous, more intense, and high pitched during inhalation than exhalation. The sound is soft, low pitched, and rustling in quality. Vesicular breath sounds occur when air flows into and out of the lungs during breathing. Normal lung or vesicular breath sound: A doctor can hear this sound over most of the chest with a stethoscope, a device for listening to a person’s internal body sounds.Healthcare professionals classify them in the following ways:

These factors can help them determine whether the sounds from the lungs are regular or not.īreath sounds can differ depending on where they occur in the respiratory system. When a doctor listens to a person’s lungs, they note the frequency, intensity, and quality of the sounds they hear.

Lung sounds description