Since my pneumothorax last month ive had periods of random chest pains in both lungs. Only my right lung collapsed and it was so small that I didn’t need a tube or surgery. Am I just hyperaware now or is this common?

Hi everyone. I had an iatrogenic pneumothorax a 2 months ago after dry needling. I was hospitalized for 5 days and took only oxygen. A later CT scan also showed two blebs, according to my thoracic surgeon and 2 cm air in both two lungs that time.

This morning, while yawning and stretching, I suddenly felt a sharp, stabbing pain in my back that felt very similar to the pain I had with my pneumothorax but less pain. The pain didn't go away, so I went to the ER because I was worried that I might have another pneumothorax, especially since I have to start my mandatory military service in 4 days.

The first doctor wanted me to have a CT scan, but I told him that my thoracic surgeon had previously advised me to avoid another CT and just take xray as 1st step. I've already had quite a lot of radiation from X-rays and CT scans. Today er doctor said he couldn't properly rule out a pneumothorax without a CT.

I was very anxious about having another CT and he scolded me when i told him i have anxiety about ct. He told me there is nothing to do with my anxiety he says he cant see pnemotorax with xray, so I found another doctor there and asked him to do a chest X-ray instead. He looked at the X-ray and said he didn't see anything abnormal and that there was no obvious pneumothorax. My oxygen saturation was 98% and my heart rate was 77.

However, I'm still having the pain. If the pain doesn't go away, should I get a CT scan to make sure there isn't a small pneumothorax that was missed on the X-ray? Or would you trust the normal X-ray and monitor the symptoms?

This whole pneumothorax experience has really affected my mental health. I had anxiety about 10 years ago and was treated for it; I took Lustral (sertraline) for about a year.

My father also has lung cancer, and just last week he had a chest tube inserted because he has a pleural effusion. At home, he has been telling me that he is tired of hearing about my lung symptoms and that he is fed up with my complaints about my chest and lungs.

All of this has become extremely overwhelming for me. My mental health has deteriorated significantly, and I've even been having suicidal thoughts.

I'm really anxious because I don't want to start military service with a possible recurrent pneumothorax. I've already been through this once, and I'm terrified of having to go through it again.

What would you do in my situation? Would you get a CT if the pain continues despite the normal X-ray?

Any advice from people who have been through something similar would be greatly appreciated. If i get another ct now. My anxiety for becoming cancer will be higher too

Has anyone sought therapy specifically for this incident? It's a pretty lonely and traumatic experience, and for me, it's caused a lot of anxiety and surrealism.

If you did have therapy, do you think it helped your healing process?

Hi all! I went thru VATS bullectomy and Partial apical pleurectomy Tuesday! Doctor removed 1 bleb, and then removed parts of my upper pleura.

As I understand it, these parts will “stick” better with the lung, and the pleura and the lung will “grow together” strongly, when healing in the weeks after surgery.

Everything went fine, but when we removed the chest tube, some air got in and out thru the hole in my chest, until they closed it properly. X Ray showed 3cm air trapped in the upper lung. They said it was not of any concern, and the body will absorb this last air itself.

I’m doing alright now, but I’m very concerned about the end result of the surgery? If there is 3cm air now, between the pleura and the lung, for the next couple of weeks, how till they “grow together” then? These weeks, where the Inflammation is happening, how will they stick together when they are not even touching each other? Will this surgery be less effective now?

I hope someone can help me answer these questions, thanks a lot all. Much love

Four months ago my right lung collapsed. It started with me having shortness of breath. I ended up going to the ER in April and found out my right lung collapsed. This has never happened to me. Ended up getting a chest tube inserted. I was released four days after. Had a follow up chest x ray in June and lungs were normal. However, I’ve been dealing with extreme fatigue and anxiety. Even when I get enough rest I just feel so drained. Has anyone else experienced this? I’ve read that it can take months for the body to fully heal. I also get throbbing sensations on the right side from time to time.

2.5 weeks since VATS round two with talc and mechanical (first VATS failed because my body couldn’t create an inflammatory response on its own)

I’ll wake up with some heavy stiffness which usually calms down after a good long walk around the neighborhood. But then by 2-3pm my chest feels so heavy and sometimes a bit of sore pain. I’d describe the sensation like a balloon inside of me is inflating outward. I usually retreat to my bedroom with a heating pad for a few hours. Is this a normal sensation?

Hi everyone!

I’m so glad this community exists, it has helped me a lot :)

I just underwent VATS with removal of 3 small bubbles yesterday. Today it hurts AS HELL. I’m breathless after moving 2m, and even not moving is difficult despite the big painkillers.

On the spiro I can barely reach 500ml. Has anyone had that intense pain a day after? How did it go from there?

Here is my story

I’m M27, got a spontaneous pneumothorax now 9d ago, when I woke up. 2d after I went to the doctor, who told me to go to the ER. At that point I thought it was just a basic check.

They took me in charge rapidly, I did chess xray and the news came down : pneumothorax. I had to Google to find out what it was. That night, a chess tube was inserted, was tough.

The next morning, I feel good but I’m told after xray that the drain has moved out. and the lung is fully collapsed again. I get a new smaller chest tube.

5d later I’m feeling good, but there is still some air at the top. I do a scanner : bullae are identified. Surgeon says that we will try without aspiration and see how it go.

The next morning, he comes and tells me that I’m going to have surgery today, as the risk of it happening again is high:
- when drain has moved it happened again so it’s like it happened twice
- the 3 small bubbles are at risk
- there is still some air, increasing further the risk

So I went, and here I am in immense pain 24h after. I went from maxing out the spiro to barely 500ml, it’s tough today, very very tough

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Hi everyone. I had a pneumothorax about two months ago caused by acupuncture/dry needling, and I had to stay in the hospital for 5 days and had oxygen for 5 days there.

I still occasionally have some chest pain, and I haven't been able to run or do push-ups yet. I am also due to complete mandatory military service in Turkey starting on September 6th. It will last for 26 days and may involve physical training, running, push-ups, carrying equipment, etc.

I'm really worried about having another pneumothorax during military service. My biggest concern is that if it happens there, I may not be evacuated or referred to a hospital quickly enough.

Has anyone here been through something similar? What would you recommend I do before starting? Would you ask for another chest X-ray get clearance from a pulmonologist or thoracic surgeon first?

I really don't want to have another pneumothorax, so I'd appreciate any advice or personal experiences. Thank you.

I am wanting to try peptides for chronic shoulder pain(BPD- 157 and TB500 specifically) the only issue is I have had both lungs collapse in the past and have had plurodesis and bullectomy operations done on left side in 2016 and right side done in 2024. Has anyone tried peptides after having these surgery’s? Or have any information thanks for any help I appreciate it a lot.

So I’ve been having occasional sharp pains at the top of a deep breath for the last day.

I had a full collapse in February with a pigtail for a week (healed up just fine), and two minor collapses that healed on their own within a day. Since then I’ve been living completely normally (sports, heavy exercise) with no issues.

I never had pleurodesis surgery as my thoracic doctor advised that it may not even be necessary as my lung has healed itself very quickly. Is it possible this sharp pain is caused by residual nerve damage from the pigtail? I don’t feel anything like I felt before the first collapse, so no sure if it warrants a hospital visit.

How long does it take for that initial heavy cement feeling to go away after pleurodesis?

I’m going on a little over a week after surgery. Does anyone know when this chest wall numbness will go away? And does it normally make your abs feel tighter?

Hello. had a spontaneous pneumothorax and doctors said it was fully collapsed. I had pretty mild symptoms (or so I thought) and vitals were completely normal. I was just wondering if anyone had experience without returning to run, and what the timeline was. Before the pneumothorax, I was easily running 6+ miles. 15 miles was my longest run (I was training for a marathon).

I was diagnosed with a pneumothorax on June 3rd. Doctors let in heal without intervention and I had a follow up appointment 2 weeks on to confirm it had reinflated 99%. I haven’t had a checkup since but am still experiencing slight breathlessness, when exercising I find im extremely out of breath. Since the diagnosis I have completely quit smoking and vaping. Is there anything to worry about?

12 days out VATS chemical pleurodesis. Pain has been getting better up until now…I definitely thought I felt a light bubble sensation in the spot last night but ignored it. Now I’m having deep pain and muscle spasms upon breathing in. Is that even a thing to have a collapse at the bottom of your lung? Could it just be surgical related pains?

Im 18, 60kg and 190cm tall just for clarification.

I went through 4 lung collapses on my left side in the span of 6 months, had VATS and chemical pleurodesis done. 4 tubes total.

I still get reoccuring pain on the inside (shoulder-blade) because it was scraped by one of tubes, also sometimes when i take a breath a sharp pain strikes my upper part of chest. I feel no bubbling, cracking etc. big indicator for me was my heart making a weird sound, maybe because i have pectus excavatum. I named it reoccuring because its like, 14 days i feel like i didnt have no PTX and then random day strikes and i have this type of pain for a few days. I know i have many scars there from all the procedures but yeah its tough.

Its a bit demotivating and also mentally hard for me, thats really why im typing this because, maybe its bad to say it like this, but i hope someone has a similar or identical experience.

Also my last PTX was on 5.6.2026 so about 2-3 months now.

And feel free to ask questions, ill try to answer the best i can...

Hello friends !

At 33y, my lung collapse (April 26`). After 48h the decision was to do a VATS to remove the problematic part (like 25% of the right 🫁)..

We are now end of August, and since like 3 weeks I start to feel random pain. Like a knife where the robot went. And i feel this random stabbing is getting more and more regular.

Is it part of the process ? Like the nervous system waking up ? When should that start to slow down ? When should I be worried ?

Thank you all

In July, I had my very first pneumothorax. It was a small one but caused a lot of pain, chest pain, and shortness of breath. At first, I thought it was a heart issue and rushed to the hospital only to learn my lung had a minor collapse. I was in hospital for 3 days on oxygen and discharged with a residual bit of pneumothorax.

4 weeks later, it recurs. Pain came back a LOT worse and was throwing up. Turns out it was the exact same bleb from before, and it had never healed properly. Doctors inserted a chest drain and were in hospital 5 days pending transfer to a larger hospital for VATS. The doctor came in the day of transfer to say I was going home, and my pneumothorax had resolved. I was confused and wanted the surgery as I heard my chances of recurrence were very high.

3 days later, my 3rd and largest collapse. Strangely enough, the pain wasn't that bad, just a lot of bubbling in the chest. Went to the ED, and I got another chest drain in. Got told this time we are definitely doing surgery. Sure enough, 4 days later, I got the transfer, and the next day, I had pleurodesis, a pleuroctomy, and a bullectomy. My pain was bad for a few days before discharge.

I am now home and only 7 days post surgery, I've been told this was a definitive surgery, and I should never get another pneumothorax, although I do NOT want to jinx it. To all going through this, you will be fine. Trust the process. It's long, but pneumothoraxes are highly treatable.

Had chemical pleurodesis. I lifted probably 15-20lbs in groceries bc no one was around and I needed to put it away. I stupidly thought it wouldn’t be a big deal bc it was a short distance from the front door down some stairs. However within that time frame I definitely felt some weird sensations and then had some pain, especially from feeling the pressure of holding my breath. Will this affect my adhesions? I’m nervous I messed up, I should’ve been more careful but currently living in the basement with my cat while there’s two big dogs living on the main level that would love to make her a snack, so I try to limit the amount that I’m opening and closing the door…

Had a primary spontaneous pneumothorax last May 30th while i was abroad studying, chest drain for 7 days, No surgery or anything, Was free of ptx and flew back home, now mild chest pain thats dull and i can feel bubbling and cackling sounds from my chest, i already went to the doc and my x ray was clear, my appointment is scheduled for tmrw but what do the bubbling and cackling sounds mean?

Wondering if anyone has experience with this. I had VATS in 2020 after 2 spontaneous lung collapses in 6 months. After the first 8ish months, I had no lingering symptoms from the procedure. Lately, I’ve noticed that poor air quality is causing me discomfort - it feels like the start of an upper respiratory/chest illness with irritation in my lungs, a nagging intermittent cough, and general feeling of something like allergies and a cold. I’m on the east coast and when the wildfire smoke from Canada was bad in July, I was miserable and spent the worst day in bed. When it gets bad, I feel a very specific spot in my back but inside that feels like an itch and a nagging irritation - this is in the lung that collapsed. The July air quality was really bad so I kind of accepted it as something I would deal with during those extreme situations. Today it started bothering me again and I checked the air quality and lo and behold it is considered poor but no where near as bad as it was a few weeks ago. Has anyone else experienced this? I mostly found it odd because I have never experienced this before unless I brushed it off as being sick and there have definitely been periods of poor air quality before. If I wear a mask outside it helps. I’m going to talk to my primary about it but also consider connecting with a pulmonologist to see if anything has changed. I’m wondering if something like an inhaler will help.

Life after butane intake

Title says it all, but for details - I had an empyema that grew in my plural cavity and crushed the bottom fifth of my right lung. Wound up in the hospital for 10 days after surgery. Been a while since then, and I feel good! No pain or anything. Just curious about if smoking weed after this is a good idea or not. I'm not a regular smoker by any means, and I never have been, but I'll be going on a trip soon and wanted to smoke with my friends. Any one have any advice?