A pulmonologist is a physician who specializes in diseases of the respiratory tract. This includes the lungs, airways (mouth, nose, pharynx, larynx, and trachea), and respiratory muscles (including the diaphragm and intercostal muscles).

For some relatively short-lasting illnesses that affect your lungs, like the flu or pneumonia, you might be able to get all the care you need from your regular doctor. But if your cough, shortness of breath, or other symptoms don't get better, you might need to see a pulmonologist.

What Conditions Do Pulmonologists Treat?

• Asthma, a group of lung diseases that includes emphysema and chronic bronchitis
• Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a disease caused by changes in your genes that makes sticky mucus build up in your lungs
• Emphysema, which damages the air sacs in your lungs
• Interstitial lung disease, a group of conditions that scar and stiffen your lungs Lung cancer, a type of cancer that starts in the lungs
• Obstructive sleep apnea, which causes repeated pauses in your breathing while you sleep
• Pulmonary hypertension, or high blood pressure in the arteries of your lungs
• Tuberculosis, a bacterial infection of the lungs