Chest Speciality / Pulmonology is considered a branch of internal medicine, and is related to intensive care medicine. Pulmonology often involves managing patients who need life support and mechanical ventilation. Pulmonologists are specially trained in diseases and conditions of the chest, particularly pneumonia, asthma, tuberculosis, emphysema, and complicated chest infections.

A simple cough associated with allergies or a cold shouldn't send you looking for a pulmonary specialist. Urgent care or your primary care doctor should be your first stop, and then on to an allergist or ear, nose and throat (ENT) specialist.

The below symptoms can be related to a lung condition and a pulmonary specialist may be helpful:

• Chest pain or tightness
• Dizziness, lightheadedness or fainting
• Difficulty breathing, especially during exercise
• Fatigue
• Wheezing
• Recurring or chronic bronchitis or colds that impact your respiratory system
• Asthma that isn't well-controlled, or has unidentified triggers

Diagnosis and treatment

Your doctor might treat chest pain with medication, noninvasive procedures, surgery, or a combination of these methods. Treatment depends on the cause and severity of your chest pain.

Treatments for heart-related causes of chest pain include:

• medications, which may include nitroglycerin and other medications that open partially closed arteries, clot-busting drugs, or blood thinners
• cardiac catheterization, which may involve using balloons or stents to open blocked arteries
• surgical repair of the arteries, which is also known as coronary artery bypass grafting or bypass surgery

Treatments for other causes of chest pain include:

• lung re-inflation for a collapsed lung, which your doctor will perform by inserting a chest tube or related device
• antacids or certain procedures for acid reflux and heartburn, which are used to treat the symptoms
• anti-anxiety medications, which are used to treat chest pain related to panic attacks