Crackles are the clicking, rattling, or crackling noises that may be made by one or both lungs of a human or animal [2] with a respiratory disease during inhalation, and occasionally during exhalation.

Jan 6, 2025 · Your doctor is more likely to hear crackles when you’re breathing in, but they may happen when you breathe out, too. Rales happen when your airway snaps open as you breathe in.

Dec 14, 2025 · Learn what crackles are, why they occur, and how to assess them to better identify respiratory conditions during patient evaluation.

Lung sounds are either normal (vesicular) or abnormal. Abnormal lung sounds include rhonchi, wheezing, stridor, crackles (rales) and pleural rub.

Jun 4, 2021 · Also called crackles, rales are small rattling, clicking or bubbling sounds that occur when you inhale. Caused by airflow traveling through narrowed airways, wheezing is a high-pitched sound.

Aug 11, 2025 · Breathing sounds like popping or crackling can be unsettling. These sounds, often called crackles or rales, are common and stem from various underlying causes. While sometimes harmless, …

Apr 27, 2025 · Crackles are also known as alveolar rales and are the sounds heard in a lung field that has fluid in the small airways. Crackles create fine, short, high-pitched, intermittently crackling sounds.

Crackles are abnormal lung sounds characterized by discontinuous clicking or rattling sounds. Crackles can sound like salt dropped onto a hot pan or like cellophane being crumpled or like Velcro being …

1 day ago · Crackling sounds when breathing usually suggest a disease involving the lungs or bronchi. It requires proper medical evaluation and treatment. Crackling sounds while breathing are suggestive …

Crackles, also known as rales or crepitations, are abnormal, nonmusical, discontinuous breath sounds heard predominantly during inspiration. They are characterized by fine or coarse quality, may be dry …