I woke up with spontaneous pneumothorax, it got worse as I fed the horses in cold weather, shortness of breath and felt like a ton of bricks sitting on my chest. Pain all subsided when I lay down, I didn't go to the doctor until the following day, they had to insert the chest tube, called a procedure in the ER. That hurt, the tube in there was very uncomfortable but worked. Removal was quick but painful too. Glad to have it out though. Former smoker, but I quit and thought my lungs would rejuvenate! I have a very severe case of scoliosis also, and blame every ailment on it. I’m a 50 yr old female. Published: January 14 ::

I am 21 and recovering from my second pneumothorax. The first was 50% on the right; the second 30% on the left, but I opted for the preventative surgery after the second one. I also got a lung resection/reduction on the left side for some cysts that kept my lung from closing up and making it collapse all over again. I am an athlete, a student, and my job as a messenger required me to be very physical and ride a bike. Right now, all those things hang in the balance of whether the preventative surgery takes. Based on the last X-ray, I have a residual pneumothorax that's complicating the efficacy of the surgery. By the way, for those who get their lungs stapled, such as myself, the cold air can be unnerving for a while. This article should mention more about the VATS surgery. Published: January 13 ::

I am still recovering from a spontaneous pneumothorax. I was home for six days with a tube in my chest, which was not fun. After that did not work, I went in for surgery where they removed a part of my lung and scuffed up my chest wall to re-stick the lung to the wall. Apparently, spontaneous pneumothorax can be hereditary. My dad, my brother, and I have all had it; the only difference was that I had it on my left side, and they had it on their right side. If you experience any symptoms, go to the ER right away! Published: December 08 ::

I was recently unfortunately able to experience a pneumothorax. I fell down some stairs, fracturing three ribs and collapsing my lung. When I got to the hospital, the lung was 20% collapsed. By the time I was seen, it had gotten to 75% collapsed. A chest tube was placed. A couple days later, I was released and went home. I had many problems in the days to come. The Percocet wasn’t enough to treat the pain. After going to the hospital a number of times, I was finally put on Dilaudid. Published: November 29 ::

The symptom that I had when I experienced a spontaneous pneumothorax was a sharp back pain in my upper right back. Though initially it was extremely painful, which led me to the emergency room, the pain abated. That almost caused me to leave the hospital without being checked. By the time the triage nurse got to me, my right lung was completely collapsed and the left lung had only 35% capacity. I think it is important to mention that a symptom could be back pain as well. Published: October 16 ::

Recently, I was diagnosed and treated for a spontaneous pneumothorax. While the chest tube was in place (very painful), I was as active as I could be. I went walking as often as I could. What I felt happened and made my condition worse was that I felt the pain increase as if the tube was rubbing against the inner wall of my chest. My advice is to stay still, and let the chest tube do its thing. Published: September 30 ::

I pray that anyone with a history of pneumothorax is under the care of a specialist. My brother, 57, had a collapsed lung in October of 2002 and again in March 2003. He stopped smoking after the first incident but had to have surgery to bond the thinning tissue after the second collapse. In July of 2003, he started coughing violently, and by the time paramedics arrived got, it was too late. They were not able to get the tube down this blocked throat to incubate. Published: January 13 ::

This occurred with me when I was having a surgery for T.O.S (thoracic outlet syndrome). My surgeon bumped my lung with the rib bone he was taking out. After they repaired that, I had a tube out the side of my chest. It didn’t bother me, until they took it out. That was extremely painful. For a month after, I would wake up in the night gasping for breath, unable to breathe. I don’t know if it was my own fear of being unable to breathe or a symptom. It has been eight years, and I still only have 50% lung capacity. I have a lot of problems breathing. If I had been told to do breathing exercises immediately after, I think it may have helped more. I also now use an inhaler. If I don’t I cough all the time. Doctors need to educate their patients on what to do after this has happened for a better outcome. Also we must ask more instead of assuming. I’m only 40 and really wish I could breathe normal again. Published: January 13 ::