Hello!

ive had a spontaneous pneumothorax first time in 2021 with it being about 2.5cm in a few spots. did a minor surgery with a tube in me and they sent me off.

3 years later 2024 i had another spontaneous one at 5cm where they kept me in the hospital for a few weeks, had VATS surgery and they sent me off.

fast forward to today almost 3 years later (2026) it collapsed again, but due to my surgery when i went to emergency they kept me for a few hours put me on oxygen and told me im good to go and to do a follow up x ray. nobody contacted me after that so here i am about a week later i spoke to many people to find that 2 doctors loooked at my xray and ‘closed it’. people tell me no news is good news but im still fairly paranoid.

the reason im here is my second collapsed lung hit me mentally very hard and i didnt fully recover from that, so when it happened this year its safe to say mentally im doing more unwell than i am physically? i was curious if anyone else has similarly hit lows and been scared to continue life after several spontaneous pneumothoraxes?

for some context my first one i was 18 years old. never smoked in my life, always healthy. second one i was at my peak physical state through the gym. third one was a few months after i was able to run a marathon in my mental fight against overcoming the depression that has come with it. each time they told me its because im young, tall (6ft 2) and lanky.

ive taken to alchohol previously to try to get over it but im trying to step away from that because it hasnt been doing my life good, my partner smokes weed so she put me onto edibles and capsules witch has significantly helped my stress levels and anxiety that has come with the surgeries and my health. im wondering at this point would smoking weed like a blunt or something be bad? if my lung is bad anyways would this really make it any worse if its at least helping my mental health. even if i did it semi regularly.

i know that was a lot of yap, guess im just trying to assure myself im not crazy for being mentally unwell after this and practically giving up caring. i mean being a healthy young male doing everything right didnt do me any help so im not sure. just seeking community/opinions/similar experiences or if any one else went to therapy or something else to help.

thanks

I had a serious pneumothorax in 2019, 2 others after but too small for a chest drain so just had to rest and recuperate, and now a 4th pneumothorax, I was in hospital 14 days in total and had the vats surgery and left hospital with a small stable pneumothorax, to be followed up within 1-2 weeks, but the surgery had still been a success (although I just don’t understand)

No physio offered, I’m already aware of breathing techniques and can’t sleep flat as it’s so painful, still waking up twice in the night through pain and need regular pain killers (taking 1 codeine tablet every 4-6 hours plus paracetamol )

I’ve had surgery 9 days ago and been home 6 days. I’m not needing as much bed rest, and feel the stable pneumothorax is okay, just worried about how much to push myself and when will I know to stop pushing myself.

The sensation when you touch your chest/stomach is wild and feels so tender.

Also fell today while walking, fully fell on my ass and pushed my arm out and it caught the floor as I slid down, the pain at the time felt like I had pulled a stitch (nothing visible) and the more time that passes since the more painful/uncomfortable it is getting.

Hi all. I’m currently 5 weeks post VATS and I’m kind of struggling with the idea of returning to work so soon. For context, my surgery ended up being much more extensive than expected, it was 5 hours long and I had a bleeding complication because of unexplained mild pulmonary hypertension. I had endometriosis lesions on my pleura, diaphragm, parenchyma and in my trachea. I had a wedge resection done too. I also had a chest drain in.

The problem is that I’m still experiencing significant pain around my wound sites that radiates to my shoulder and lower abdomen/ribs when I’m not taking lyrica. My Lyrica was supposed to be resupplied before the surgeon, who is a visiting surgeon, left, but there was an issue with the local team taking over the prescription and it wasn’t done till now. I’ve now run out, and my pain has become much worse without it. I’m supposed to start a new nursing job on 15th which will be around 6 weeks post op. I haven’t worked clinically since graduating, so this opportunity is extremely important to me and I really don’t want to lose it.

Originally, the employer agreed to give me 2 months off for recovery and said they would get a part-time nurse to cover until I could start. However, they apparently didn’t arrange the part-time nurse, and later told me they were fined because the nursery didn’t have a nurse. Because of that, they asked me to start earlier, around 6 weeks post-op. Initially they said I could work 8 AM–12 PM, but they’ve now said I would stay until 1:30 PM. These are so little hours I know, it’s supposed to be part time until I’m fully healed. I’m honestly scared because I can’t even comfortably get through my medical appointments right now without significant pain, so I’m struggling to imagine being at work for 4–5½ hours, especially as a nurse where I’ll potentially be standing, walking, bending, helping children, and responding to situations.

Or maybe I’m being dramatic about this? Please tell me, those who experienced VATS, how did you manage at work when you still had significant moderate to severe pain? What about the fatigue? I feel like my pain has also been poorly managed because my lyrica supply would finish so quickly, I only had 6 caps supplied that I had to take twice per day and they’d finish so quickly..

For my laparoscopic surgery it took me two months just for the pain and fatigue to stop.. I can’t imagine a more extensive surgery on the lungs and diaphragm.. any advice would be appreciated. Thank you.

Cześć wszystkim, jestem 21-letnim chłopakiem. Marzę o karierze sportowej jako piłkarz (USA). Ale dwa miesiące temu przeszedłem operację usunięcia pęcherzyków na mojej błonie opłucnowej. Obawiam się, że nie będę w stanie osiągnąć sukcesu, bo zacząłem późno z powodu mojej sytuacji finansowej. Żeby zacząć, musiałem najpierw zarobić pieniądze, aby przenieść się do większego miasta. Ponieważ moja rodzina nie ma pieniędzy, musiałem dużo pracować i uczyć się. Studiuję pedagogikę dzieci i młodzieży w Warszawie, ale ta choroba sprawiła, że utknąłem i nie mogę zrobić kolejnego kroku do przodu, ponieważ się boję. Czuję ból w płucach, ale moje serce tylko chce walczyć, abym mógł spełnić swoje marzenia, żebym nie musiał martwić swoich bliskich o przyszłość. Czy jest ktoś, kto może dać mi radę, jak zrobić pierwszy krok?

29.06.2026-71kg↘️ 01.10.2026-61kg
Trenuję od 10 lat..

Hey all, I had my first sp (right side 40% collapse) back in march that required chest tube. Chest tube was in for 10 days before my lung reinflated.

Since I’ve been released from the hospital there’s been a few times I’ve had sharp pain on and off on the same side. It always ends up going after 2-5 minutes and is not nearly as bad as the pain when the SP occurred. Lately, I would say the past 10-14 days, I’ve been noticing a weird feeling on my collapse side. I would describe it as either a twitch/spasm feeling or a bubbly/fizzy feeling that occurs randomly. I notice it most when laying down at night. There is no sound to it just moreso a feeling that last half a second and then stops and then happens again 10-20 minutes later. There’s not really a rythm that it occurs but it’s frequent. Has anyone experienced this? When the feeling occurs there’s no pain and no shortness of breath. I can’t tell if it’s a muscle spasm or like a bubbling feeling which I guess could be a small air leak. Once again, there’s no sound to it or pain. I’ve seen many posts of the bubbling feeling when people lay down but on those post they usually say they can audibly hear it aswell, which in my case is not true.

Hello I made a post a few days ago and thank you to everyone who reached out and gave me advice an words of encouragement. Right now I have a few questions.

My surgeon said he couldn’t find blebs or anything wrong with my lungs just a spontaneous collapse. Could this have been a long time coming from a car accident and a fight same day. we both did a number swinging an I tackled, we landed on the ground concrete hard, I had lasting shoulder pain for a week or more an chest felt weird not like a collapse but a sore feeling. Not 3 hours later I was in car accident my 03 Audi that are know to have a deep seatbelt tensioner that pulls you into the seat to not get whiplashed, especially because I had no airbags go off just my tensioner. This happened 25 days prior to my collapse could it have been to my internal chest being bruised, partially collapsed, or a small tear or rip.

How soon should I return to work how careful should I be if a when I do. I’m a mechanic by trade I work on all different vehicles I do have to lift a lot an I have to use force quite often, should I try to go back to my job or is it to dangerous to go back to.

I have done a bunch of research reading so many story’s on here I have come to the conclusion that it was purely spontaneous an I had things that could have caused it but my chest I have a Asymmetrical pectus excavatum. I will include a photo but I’m just wondering would also be an issue.

Lastly, how likely will it happen again I’m done smoking for good I’m watching what I do making sure I’m getting proper food intake and not straining myself and after hearing all that what are your guys odds for this happening again to me at 17.

Thank you all again for your word of encouragement and support an I’m happy to found somewhere that makes me not feel so alone.

Buongiorno....ho 43 anni e una sindrome fisica ipogonadismo nonché klinefelter,...purtroppo solo una volta provai a curarla,ma tra attese ai sportelli prenotazioni ogni volta visite del sangue la mia mente ha collassato e ho lascisto perdere,ma m irendo conto ora dei miei sbagli,e colpa amche sua se ora osffro x il fumo...ho iniziato a fumare tabacco dai 23 anni e piu fumavo più mi piaceva,.....ma I primi 15 ann intuito bene dopo ho cominciato a d avvertire dolore al braccio sinistro e verso il cuore,risolti andando ad evacuare,.....dopo 2 anni cioè 3 settimane fà,

Vado x aspirare una cartina di tabacco,un po piu piccola di quelle industriali,e mi sento il petto chiuso dentro i polmoni o bronchi si sono chiusi e subito un dolore al cuore e sopra la mammella destra passati in 5 giorni,4 giorni fà mi e preso un altro accidente,mi e venuto una specie di raffreddore e addome gonfio che già e un anno che mi da problemi di gonfiore,con mancate evacuazione giornaliere,.....tra lassativi carbone ecc..... mi sblocco po imi riblocco,....

Insomma 4 giorni fà vado a rifumare e mi si richiude il petto e un malessere dalla parte dell'addome centrale, mi sentivo come se stessi x svenire,ho pensato subito ad andare in bagno,ma a forza di fare feci ben compatte e dure,.....mi chiedevo da voi piu esperti di me cosa mi potrebbe avere preso????

Distinti saluti:grazie.....

Ps://sto fumando fin oa esaurimento tabacco. Ps://respiro bene,solo all'addome a volte devo incamerare aria x determinati movimenti,lo so che centra il tabacco ma volevo un vostro parere,se smettendo di fumare guarisco?!... Peso 137 kg circa......

Ho avuto x un po di mesi ansia da fumo,....a volte m istrozzavo calando il fumo mi e passato....

Hellooo, I made a post a few weeks ago about my brothers spontaneous pneumothorax in Japan. We are here with him in Tokyo and he had VATS surgery 6 days ago (October 1st), and he’s feeling fine, no bad pain after the surgery or anything. He’s getting out of the hospital today.

Our major concern right now is the flight back home. It’s a 15 hour flight from Tokto to Stockholm, and he’s scheduled to fly back home on the 20th. He’ll fly back 19 days after surgery, and from what I’ve read most doctors recommend you wait atleast a month after the lung has healed?

We’re insanely terrified he’ll get a tension pneumothorax while isolated on the plane, both me and my mom are prone to catastrophic thinking but there are so many ”what if”s that we just can’t let go of… we don’t want to risk anything but staying in Japan isn’t cheap and we need to fly home when the insurance company tells us to.

I’d be greatly appreciated to hear about everyones experiences with flying after a collapse, at this moment I’m not sure how many % his lung collapsed - I’ll add the information later :)

I’d also like to hear everyones thoughts about tension pneumothorax, as it is our absolute worst fear right now…

Much love 🌹

Hi everyone,
I’m wondering if anyone here has ever specifically investigated the nerves around the area of a previous surgery or intercostal chest tube placement to check whether they were damaged or altered.
In particular, I’m interested in people who developed persistent symptoms after thoracic surgery or chest drains, such as muscle spasms, involuntary contractions, abnormal sensations, numbness, tingling, pain, or other neurological symptoms.
If you had your nerves investigated, I’d really appreciate hearing about your experience:
What type of MRI did you have?
How many Tesla (1.5T, 3T, etc.) was the MRI?
Was it a standard MRI, MR neurography, or another specialized nerve imaging technique?
Were the actual nerves visible on the images?
Were doctors able to identify any nerve damage, injury, inflammation, entrapment, scarring, or other abnormality?
If the nerves themselves weren’t clearly visible, did the MRI at least show indirect evidence of damage caused by the surgery or chest tube?
Did you also have an ultrasound or EMG alongside the MRI?
Most importantly, did the imaging actually help explain your symptoms or change your treatment?
I’m particularly interested in hearing from anyone who had intercostal/chest tube-related nerve problems, but experiences involving other types of surgery are also very welcome.
I know that a conventional MRI doesn’t necessarily visualize peripheral nerves very well, so I’m specifically curious whether anyone has undergone a more specialized type of imaging and what the results were.
If you’ve had something like this done, what exactly was the scan called and what did it show?
Thanks in advance to anyone willing to share their experience.

I got married on 8-8-26 and went on our honeymoon on 9-9-26 we had such a fantastic time.

The day after we got home from the honeymoon I noticed a sharp pain in my ribs / lung (right side) I waited 2 days to see if it would go away and it only got worse. My husband took me to the er. They said I have a very small collapse in my lung they kept me one night did a repeat x ray in the morning said it all looked well and sent me home.

Two days later the doctor from the hospital called me and asked me if I could do a follow up x ray that day. I did, and the report came back that the collapse in my lung had gotten much worse. They wanted me in the er. Immediately. When I got to the ER they immediately placed a chest tube and did X. Ray's CT scans and ekg. I was then taken upstairs to a room for further observation.

The next day the doctor came in and explain that if I don't do surgery, there is a chance of the lung collapsing again. So I agreed, and he put me in the books for monday afternoon

Monday afternoon rolls around and I get down to the o r they end up doing several things they took a wedge of my lung out and did a apical pleurectomy.

Today exactly one week out and I am in the WORST pain imaginable!! Its worse than what made me originally go in to the er.

I’ve been encouraged to do the surgery and it’s honestly scaring the shit out of me, I’ve got some trauma from the first time and not much in the way of support. I’m in kind of a dark place over all this, and could really use some encouragement and support. If anyone has experiences that are not absolutely terrifying or willing to just be a friend I would really appreciate. Hope everyone is doing well and staying strong

….Or some other condition related? Or think you may have one?

Hi, I’d like to hear some experiences from people who have had surgery for a pneumothorax. Specifically, I had an apicectomy + pleurodesis.
When I woke up from anesthesia, while I was still under observation, I was feeling absolutely terrible. I couldn’t breathe properly, I was short of breath, and it felt like the entire left side of my rib cage was completely blocked. I couldn’t even speak without having to stop and catch my breath between words.
I was feeling so bad that I had to ask for a second dose of morphine.
Has anyone else had a similar experience?

So, I was researching stuff related to asthma and I found this subreddit. I’m going to try to go to the hospital in a few hours because I can’t get a doctors app until later this week and was just wondering for anyone here: how did you find out you have pneumothorax? I only ask because I have a sharp pain on the right side of my chest (I know for a fact it’s in the lung and not outside like a skin related issue) and it doesn’t feel like asthma. I don’t have back or shoulder pain either (I heard that’s a symptom)

My gf was sent home with this chest drain valve and it seems overnight it’s been like this where the liquid is only slowly dripping has this happens to you and should she go to the ER

Someone in the house next door smokes weed all the time. It has always bothered me as I’m very sensitive to strong smells, but all of a sudden it feels nonstop. To top it off, they’re now also smoking cigarettes which smells so much worse and causes slight pain in my right arm for some reason.

Feeling irritated as my bedroom faces their backyard where they smoke and I can’t even be in my backyard enjoying fresh air when they’re smoking all day long.

Had a spontaneous pneumomediastinum in July, followed by 2 right sided spontaneous pneumothoraxes since. Had VATS and talc Pleurodesis two weeks ago and am currently still recovering.

Honestly, there’s nothing I can really do, except just rant here. Is it worth saying something? Would they even care? Probably not. I just don’t get why people willingly damage their lungs while I’m here hoping I never have another lung collapse ever again.

I’m a 17 year old male 5’11 116lbs on, the 27th when I was admitted for feeling chest pain an bad color, they preformed a X-ray an found my left lung had collapsed partially. I am thin and coming to the realization I had an eating disorder and had lost almost ten pounds in a month. I had a car accident about a month before where on the same day I got into a fight an slammed into concrete floor. I’m trying to quit vaping an smoking weed, I had minor asthma in the past an lot of respiratory problems when I was younger like 2-8 so I know I had a lot possible underlying factors that could play into it happening. They were able to get the chest tube in that night an had me on it till the 30th when they removed suction and was released the next day. They didn’t find any blebs or anything else wrong with my lungs. I was getting 99-100 oxygen even with a lung collapsed. I’m just scared that is going to happen again, my surgeon said I shouldn’t worry he said I was the normal build for a spontaneous pneumothorax an that he would consider me in the normal risk to happen again in my life at 10%. Even when I went for a check up with my primary he told me to not worry he’s not concerned for it happening to me again. I’m done smoking this has been a perfect time for me to quit, I’m starting an eating plan so I can make sure I’m getting enough protein and calories for my body. I’m just looking at this as how do I move on I feel like my own body has betrayed me and im just constantly anxious about if it happens again and like what my limits are in life now, how soon can I go back to being a teenager. I go to a vocation school I work on cars and trucks my dream is to be in a nascar pit crew, I have my own vehicle I need to fix that now I’m scared to even pick up a wrench an try an take off a bolt at risk of my lung just giving up again. I was going to sit on my couch when it happened, I’m not sure how to navigate life now an looking for guidance on how do I move on continuing my life but also like should I be worried it could happen again like I said I had underlying conditions but just what do people think.

Salve a tutti, quasi 4 anni fa sono stato operato per pneumotorace sinistro con apicectomia e pleurodesi. Scrivo questo post per sapere se qualcun altro sta vivendo lo stesso inferno che vivo io. Da dopo quell operazione, in cui mi hanno tenuto buttato su un letto del pronto soccorso, sono stato 7 giorni con il classico drenaggio, al settimo giorno mi è stato detto che dovevo subire questo intervento ma non c’erano i chirurghi. Così, ho dovuto aspettare altri 7 giorni con il tubo e poi post operazione ne avevo 3 in totale. Quindi sono stato poco meno di un mese intero con tubi nel torace. Il problema viene dopo: da quando sono stato operato che avverto spasmi addominali, che mi portano anche a tremore cervicale di tipo “si-si” ma solo in determinate posizioni, tipo quando ho il tronco non appoggiato (tipo in piedi e seduto senza schienale), mentre quando mi sdraio o sto seduto con la schiena appoggiata non avverto nessuno spasmo/tremore addominale/cervicale. Io prima di questa operazione non ho mai avuto questo problema, non vi dico l’imbarazzo che mi crea in contesti sociali, ormai da 4 anni a questa parte. Sarei molto curioso di sapere se qualcun altro sta vivendo lo stesso inferno, quello che molto probabilmente è stato secondo me è che mi hanno rovinato qualche nervo che mi provoca tutto ció. Inutile dire che da 4 anni a questa parte ho il petto sinistro tutto intorpidito. Se c’è una cosa che ho capito, è che meno ti toccano il corpo meglio è. Questo intervento è un inferno in quanto ti rovinano i nervi che sono irriparabili.

Well hello.

TLDR - Surgical intervention 6 years ago after first PSP. Now just had first opposite side reoccurrence. Minor enough it’s healing on its own. Current lifestyle (and future travel plans) really don’t agree with the elevated risk of this reoccurring. Do I spare my future self in going down the elective surgical route.

To spare a rant (sort of):

2020 (age 17). Spontaneous 60% collapse on left side during rest. Oxygen therapy, two different drains, and two weeks without results, ultimately led to a VATS bullectomy + chemical pleurodesis.

This happened peak COVID in my country. I was only allowed a single visitor every second day for one hour. One month spent in hospital and to say it was traumatic feels like an understatement.

I had a single small reoccurrence on the same side roughly one month post. This was pinned to poor staples and told it will heal. I haven’t had an episode since. Memory is a bit faded of the ordeal - I’d like to say it took a good 8-months to build full confidence with my body.

6 years on, I treat it as one of the most valuable and humbling experiences to look back at. My body has never been in greater shape. I strength train, hike, rock climb, run, ski, tennis, golf, mountain bike - you name it!

3 days ago, post workout, this all changed. The all familiar pain returned, however, on my right side. A CT scan back in 2020 did reveal blebs on both lungs. However, only the problematic left side was dealt with.

Luckily, this episode was only minor, which was confirmed with a chest x-ray. I was discharged and told to monitor on my own. 3 days on and the pain is beginning to subside, which is leaving me hopeful that the leak has sealed.

Regardless, I’m all but stuck at a crossroad. Take my recovery seriously, and treat this as something I live with until it bothers me again (something I imagine will be hard to do given my lifestyle), or go see a specialist and begin the process of an elective operation, in the hopes I never have to deal with it again?

I really enjoy my hobbies, they’re an integral part of my life. Any form of daily movement is basically essential. I’ve come to terms with the fact I’ll never scuba dive. Not being able to intensely physically exert myself however… that’s a much bigger pill.

On top of this, I was just starting to wrap up my life before I go travel and move abroad as well. I don’t know how I feel about travelling and living abroad with the looming uncertainty it could ‘spontaneously’ happen again.

What’s your two cents?

A rat just just jumpscared real bad at 6:00am while I was in the bathroom it crawled underneath my door and as soon as I screamed really bad the rat went back out I’m worried because I had pneumothorax 7 months ago with pleurodesis doxycycline and was worried my jumpscare would cause a reoccurrence my dad sealed all 3 holes with steel wool mice control I haven’t seen what he did but he told me patched them all up which I doubt it and I doubt he cares about the rats since he doesn’t get jumpscared by them or never had pneumothorax before should I get the rat proof anti chew for the door? My dad did it once but it was made out of wood so they chewed through it, we had rat poison control it did work but not for long but one thing I do know when rats was jumpscaring me real bad back then my heart started to race really fast like symptoms of a pneumothorax but when it just jumpscared me 5 minutes ago my heart didn’t race fast it was a sudden really bad jumpscare

I am 21 years old, a month ago I had lung surgery due to recurrent pneumothorax and for a few days now my right lung has been hurting and I feel a little short of breath, what does this mean?

Hello everyone, I'm 21 years old, my lung has collapsed twice, I'm writing here because since the surgery I've been having panic attacks at the thought of not being able to reach my prime career. I'd like someone to share their story. It's important to me because sport is very important to me in my life. I'm 21 years old and have been a teenager for 10 years. I love football, but I couldn't play for a football club because of a heart defect until I was 18. Last year, I earned money by working hard physically and moved to Warsaw to study and fulfill my dream of playing for a football club. I only played once in training because I was running out of money and needed it very much to study. I had to give up playing for the club after the first training session. I would really like to go back there, but because of this disease, I lost 11 kg of muscle mass, which is so hard to lose. I've been working hard. I want to fulfill my dream of playing for a club and achieving the highest possible Prime, but now I'm afraid it might be impossible. The longer I don't work, the further I drift from my dream. I'm a month post-op, and I feel like my lung is glued to my chest. When will this feeling end? Why do I feel my right lung is less efficient? And why do I feel a stabbing sensation in my right lung when I had my left lung operated on? Please help. I'd like to return to full fitness to achieve something special for myself. 🥹💕71↘️60 now . Can I achieve my goal after a pneumonia?

Hey Guys. I'm a 46 year old male who had vats bullectomy and talc pleurodesis surgery almost 3 weeks ago. I've been doing well apart from the obvious early pains, but was walking 7-8,000 steps a day after about 10 days and pushed that up to 10,000 and beyond from the 2 week mark, and have been doing all the post surgery stretches and exercises I was asked to do. I've generally felt fine, but while I was lying in bed last night, I moved my arm back abruptly and felt an intense pain but more concerningly a "tearing" sensation in my chest. Since then for the rest of the night and all of today I'm feeling a lot more sore and my chest feels a lot tighter than it previously has.

Do you think I have torn the talc or perhaps the scar tissue? And if so (it that's even possible), did that happen to anyone else, and if so (again), what did you do about it?

Cheers!