Pneumothorax - 36 year old male, 172cm, fit, non smoker
Posted , 3 users are following.
I am a 36 year old male. Fit and healthy, non smoker, Train regularly. Due to my work I take an average of 10 flights within Europe every 6 weeks. I also swim in the sea and dive down to about 5m quite often.
I suffered from a pneumothorax 2 and half weeks ago. I had been doing sprint running and press ups in between on the beach. Then went for a swim in the sea which was 17deg. An hour later I felt sharp stabbing pains in my upper chest and back and found it hard to breath properly. I waited two days to see if I would get better which I did not, So I called a GP. She suspected pneumonia and started me on antibiotics, and told me to get my lungs X-rayed. I did not foolishy as I decided to try and get my strength up for a course the following week. A week later I flew to Cork from Barcelona (2 x flights). Felt alot of pressure and slight pain in my chest during the flights. I then completed a 3 day firefighting course and Sea Survival techniques. I was wheezing very often and found it a bit difficult to breath. After this was completed I decided to go to the doctor and he told me to get my lungs X-rayed. The hospital then admitted me as 50-60% of my right lung was collapsed. They tried an Aspiration procedure first which didnt work. Then they tried a drain for a day which also didnt work, so then connected the drain to a suction. This re inflated my lung after 2 days. I was 4 days total in hospital.
I am now out of hospital but am experiencing the odd stabbing pain in my chest. I do not have any difficulty in breathing so do not think it is collapsed again. But am a bit paranoid now. Has any body else experienced this after the pneumothorax has healed?
Does any body know why this may have happened or what I can do to prevent it in the future? The doctors could not tell me why this happened. I love to scuba dive and free dive in the sea. My doctor has told me that they do not reccomend to Scuba dive ever again. I cannot give this up. Has anybody scuba dived again after a pneumothorax?
They have also told me that I can resume training and running a week after I have gotten out of the hospital. I have read here in some of the discussions that heavy training is not reccommended for up to 6 months after. What are peoples experience in this?
The main question I have is, what can I do to strengthen my lungs up and to prevent this from happening in the future.
0 likes, 3 replies
antonia58931 alex71431
Posted
Hi Alex, Sounds like possibly Spontaneous Pnemothorax, which if this is the case it truely is best to listen to the doctors when they say "no scuba diving" this is because of the pressure and oxygen i can only presume. I have suffered 5 in the past 2 years and they can come and go like hot cakes with no reasoning at all! Listen to any pains or symptoms, although you may not feel short of breath it could still be collapsed a short % you just have a high pain threshold, not all of mine did i feel short of breath. Sometimes just some panadol when the pain accurs is enough for it to heal on its own they dont always require drains for treatment. Rest and Recover. As for strengthening after i had surgery to fix my left lung and right lung collapsing shortly afterwards i started yoga, which i 90% think has helped and stregthened my breathing lungs. Withing 2 months i was completely back to normal and whenever i feel pain yoga seems to stretch it out and i feel amazing afterwards. 10% mind over matter. Not sure this will help with scuba diving again but it might help your strength for something to work towards especially getting back into fitness again, that is one thing i do miss a lot!! but can walk, jog, lift and live normally again 8 months down the track
hope you find what will work for you - Always listen to the body never ignore what its trying to tell you. if its one thing i have learnt is the body truely is a temple and we take it for granted and push it to much!
alex71431 antonia58931
Posted
Hi Antonia, Thank you for the reply and advice. Yes it was a Spontaneous Pneumothorax. You had 5 in 2 years. That is crazy. Yoga sounds like it might help to strengthen and stretch out. Its a bit tamer than I'm used to having done Muay Thai Boxing for many years in the past but I have definately been living a 100mph! Time to calm down a bit and listen to my body. Hope you dont have a reoccurance again.
derrickm alex71431
Posted
Alex,
I suffered a spontaneous pneumothorax the the end of September(2nd of my life, previous was 15 years prior). In the hospital for about four days that time with the suction tube. Released and took it easy. All seemed well for a bit and then, about a month and a half later, in the middle of the night, stabbing pain in my chest. It passes but two days after that, light exercising and suddenly it's back full force and I can't breathe. Sure enough, x-rays determined another pneumothorax. Get checked! Don't be stubborn because if it happens once, you're far more likely to have a repeat incident. I, too, like to keep fit through interval training, hockey, and three tough murder completions. Get checked and be safe!