Asthmacure.com - Diagnosis

Physical examination will focus on your skin, eyes, ear, nose, throat and chest. The doctor looks at patients skin for sign of eczema or hives. Redness in the eyes or ear may signify the underlying allergy.

Dark circles under the eyes, called allergic shrines, and swelling in the nose are tell-tale signs of nose allergy called allergic rhinitis, or hay fever which is often associated with the asthma.

The chest examination is the most important part of the doctor's physical examination. The doctor will rely on stethoscope to detect the wheezing and gauge the rate of air movement in and out of your chest. Patient may be asked to take deep breath or briefly exercise to make it easier to detect wheezing. An asthma doctor can often diagnose asthma by just looking at the patient's chest and observing what is called as barrel chest deformity. When patients with chronic asthma constantly use their chest and rib muscles to move air in out of their lungs, the chest wall will be stretched to the limit and it expands, changing shape of the chest like a barrel.