Pain after Pneumothorax

Hi i am 22 years old and i  also had operation on both of my lungs  4 years ago .i Dint have a problem for 4 years until today ,  now i have a pain on my left chest for some reason . I dint go to the doctor yet but  somehow it makes me fell better  that most of the people here have the same problem.  It means its probably not a pneumothorax episode again.

HI!!

I have had several surgeries and continue to get collapses, though it is rare it does happen, so listen to your body, pain is our bodies way of sayin hey something might not be right. As a spontaneous pneumo sufferer, regular follow up is neccessary. I unfortunately suffer from panic attacks related to the uncertianty of my health, having the surgeries prevents my lung from collapsing entirely but I do still get small ones that sometimes need pic tubes and sometimes just monitoring. 

Jenny, have you ever been checked for catamenial pneumo,which is unique to women of menstruating age?

You should ask your doctor to look for LAM.  Lymphangioleiomyomatosis, it is rare and causes lung collapses. 

I had broken ribs, along with a pneumothorax-and three transverse process fractures in June of 2015. I spent 4 days in the hospital (no surgery)...

I am running in a Mud Run in two weeks and I'm concerned because I still have a lot of tenderness and pain in my left side, where the collapse was. I can only describe it as my "lung hurts". Laying on my side is still very uncomfortable at times. Most times.

Just an update in case it helps anyone. A little over a year after her first collapse (which was left sided), she had 2 confirmed collapses on her right side. None have been over 25% so we have not opted for surgery. Her pain on both sides now has continued and worsened. Some days it is unbearable and she can't work through it. She must stop and rest. Sad that this is happening to an athletic 16 year old.

Listen, I don't know if it's the same problem, but I had a pneumothorax 2 years ago. A year ago, I started having collapse-like pain in the same lung while working out our running (I'm very active). They didn't find anything and everyone said it was a muscular problem. I knew it wasn't. Couldn't be, the pain is pretty unique. A month ago, I had two pneumothoraxs in a row and got surgery. I consulted with the surgeons, who are the best in my country and they said that most doctors don't know much about this and that I should come only to them. They said it was most likely micro-pneumothoraxes which were reabsorbed by the lung in a couple minutes. I hope I can help you guys, I'm sorry about your girl. Consult with surgeons only would be my advice.

After my daughter's second pneumo, we met with a surgeon and he suggested that the pains that felt like a pneumothorax but didn't show anything on X-ray most likely were small blebs bursting. Now having some history with this, she can tell the difference between when there is a little air escaping and when it's the usual pleural pain.

Thank you for the info. I was wondering why I am still hurting and short of breath after having my right lung collapse twice. Then when the Dr. when in to repair it, he had to use talc to adhese my lung to the cavity wall.  He said it would be better in two weeks.   Not true!  It still hurts if I try to take a deep breath or even yawn. I am still having shortness of breath but I just asume it is because I also have COPD. I am 59 years old so I thought my age had something to do with me still hurting ..... Thank you again Miquel. This makes more sense because I had this done over a year ago.

I am 31 and very active, I have been having collapses since 2009 and opted for surgery in 2012 to save my life. Though I am one of the 13.4% that requires a second surgery, The first procedure has kept me from getting recurrent collapses that are life threatening, while painful yes, intervention is the only option when pneumothoracies continue to occur.  I am writing to you in hopes to provide support or be available to answer questions as I have probably read every medical journal on the topic. Most physicians are not knowledgeable on the topic and I would greatly recommend consullting a specialist, here is why I opted for surgery in the simplest terms. Having a collapse in the lung is life threatening A) because when one lung collapses it puts pressure on the heart, which can cause a heartattack. think about what risks bilatteral (on both sides) collapses present B) when one lung collapses it can cause what is called a tension pneumo meaning that the other lung will collapse, no working lungs means no breathing. Lung collapses are not a condition in which you have the person rest or lay down, A COLLAPSE OF ANY SIZE REQUIRES IMMEDIATE MEDICAL ATTENTION!! If a collapse occurs your chances for another one are 40% if it occurs twice your chances for reoccurence are 80% and so on and so on.  If your child has experienced collapses more than once and on both sides THIS IS SERIOUS NEEDS MEDICAL INTERVENTION IMMEDIATELY. 

Hi Jenny my lungs collapsed also and I've had surgery after the first collapse as the docs said the lung was in a bad state when it collapsed I thought I'd pulled a muscle and went to bed soon as I lied down I could not breath

After the op I've had constant pain and it's so painful it brings me to tears the docs recommended I used a hydro pool but I'm still waiting for an appointment I'm also waiting for steroid injections into the check to help strengthen the chest wall I'm no longer able to play any sports this has wrecked my life but I'm glad to still be breathing so I'm here for my wife and children I hope you manage to get the pain under control and you recover well xxxxx

Thank you for the kind words.....Im sitting here currently in bed with a collapse, was in ER yesterday : ( I feel so discouraged.....I don't want to have a second surgery but I feel that it is my only option, I struggle with pain everyday as is.... I'm worried that a second surgery will only make it worse......I hope you can find a way to get your pain under control too, recover well fellow sufferer

I also had the full surgery with talc. Its been about 4.5 years and my lung has been cramping more and more frequently. Surgeon took all the blebs out during surgery since they were all clumped together at the bottom. The pain will come and go for a very long time....maybe forever from what I'm feeling. I'm worried it's worse now than ever but the other posters are right about most docs knowing nothing about this stuff.

Jenny,

You say that if you've had two SP events, the likelihood of recurrence is 80%. My two events were separated by 15 years. Does that change the odds of is it still at 80%? Thanks in advance!

I had A collapsed lung 3 months ago, The pain is horrible and the doctors cant explain it, but as a lot of people on here its the  worry that the lung has collapsed again.

Andrea, did you get a resoltiin to this? You are the only other person so far to use the work cramping. That’s exactly what mine feels like.  I too had pleurodesis 2 years ago but have only recently started having these excruciating cramps that feel like a chest contractions.  The first time I went straight to the emergency room but all X-rays and ECGs showed nothing wrong.  I’ve had another 2 episodes since then.

  It’s always triggered by a movement, first time it was a violent sneeze, recently it’s been triggered by a yawn or stretch.  It’s so painful, I’d compare it to child birth contractions!

Hey I’m a 20 year old male who just got out of the hospital less than 24 hours ago and have the same thing your daughter  experienced. I’m currently up at 3:30 awake and in pain it goes in and out, I also find myself waking up randomly with very little sleep in between. If you could fill me in about your daughters recovery that would be amazing! I’m terrified of this happening again!

Sorry you are going through this. So my daughter had the collapse on her left. One year and 3 months later she had a collapse on her right. 2 weeks later another collapse on her right. All were 25% or less. No intervention other than hospitalized and on 100% oxygen. It has now been 3 1/2 years and no more confirmed collapses. She has had what she believes are pops that were very small (she could feel and in one case hear it) but didn’t show on X-ray and healed quicker than the ones that were confirmed. The amount of pain she has has actually subsided. Though she doesn’t feel like she’s “cured,” it is very manageable. She is happy she didn’t opt for surgery. I wouldn’t be surprised if it were to happen again. But it is not a daily concern anymore and we aren’t fearful that it will disrupt her life. Feel free to ask any other questions.

Hi max as prob read I hold the world record for these and the operations to fix it. Roughly 6-8 weeks the worst pain passes. Learning breathing techniques is a must. The physio will tell you same as the doctors slow deep breathes. They are wrong shallow short breathes. Stopping your lungs filling is best pain relief. Holding ur elbow very tight into the damaged side will help alot. Most importantly you want gabapenton not tramadol or morphine 600mg 3 times a day with 50mg diclophenac morning and night is best medication. Hot tea drank hot helps relax muscles. Thing about these operations and the pneumothorax is its massive damage severe trauma. To everything inside plus the health organs pic up the slack so they start to hurt to. There is nothing that will ease it forever, you will always feel it cold days, aeroplane, storms, high pressure low pressure. The body is amazing though soon you'll forget all about it and 90% chance you'll go through life never happen again.