To my understanding, cause of penmorhotax is related to poor breathing techniques. I tested this by breathing deeply after feeling pain and then there was relief in minutes and improved more in half hour or 1 hr.
What breathe technique should I use when doing intensive activities like lifting weights, sex, etc.?
Hi,I wouldn't alter your breathing technique,just don't do anything too strenuous,when I had mine I panicked about everything,especially after having 2! I wanted to alter everything I was doing,but just live as normal and know your boundaries.
Brody,
There's SO MUCH to say in reply to your post, but I will try to keep it very short.
The underlying cause of pneumothorax varies greatly, and in a lot of cases it's not very well understood.
Poor breathing technicque being a cause for air to be trapped in your chest cavity and to cause your lung to collapse is not something I've heard of before.
I strongly recommend you seek another opinion.
If this wasn't your first occurrence and haven't done so already, having a CT scan done to confirme wether or not you have bullae or blebs on the apex of your lungs might be a good idea.
Apart from that I concur with elisa70 - pick up physical effort gradually and don't do anything too strenuous all of a sudden - take it slow.
Cheers Elise. Thanks for your response.
Sorry, I meant to say Elisa.
Thanks Bogdan. I have a question for you. Why do I get a dripping feeling inside my lung when I go outside even if I am just sitting down? I also get this feeling after I walk for 5-10 min outside and then come home. Is it okay for me to go for slow walks outside for long periods and as a result, have small pain and a little shortness of breath after a few days? Is this part of me healing so that I can be more active?
Hi Brody,
I wouldn't say as such that breathing techniques are the cause but i wouldnt say that they dont help. I have had VATS on my left lung in March and had a collapse on my Right shortly after. Since all this i have started yoga and learnt so many different breathing techniques that i never thought of or knew how to do before going to the classes. I dont want to say this have cured a further spontaneous pneamothorax because it is still early days of doing it but i do feel like it has helped with how i breath on a daily basis and how i deal with anxiety and stress. I would definitely make sure if you feel like you have a collapsed lung to go to get it checked up on and get professional treatment. But if you want to learn more about breathing i would recommend yoga, it has been amazing for my body and mind since all the trauma
Thanks for sharing your story antonia. How did you recover so quickly? My lung collapsed end of February. I still don't exercise because I don't think the lung is healed yet. Do you experience shortness of breath or pain when doing yoga? Sometimes I think I am taking things too slow but then I get pain and shortness of breath all of a sudden, even referential pain. Can you please explain how improper breathing techniques are not the cause of VATS? I am so confused as to how this happend to me
I think if you are still feeling pain or shortness of breath you should definitely go see the GP or go into emergency to get an xray and get professional advise. It depends on the % of the lung collapse and also the healing process, i have had 6 collapses over 2 years and all of them have been resting at home and pain medication as advised by the Emergency department. If you have had a large collapse it may require a chest drain to help the healing process. I started yoga when i felt my body was ready to, Yoga is something you do at your own comfort you do not strain or push yourself to being uncomfortable but you listen to what your body is telling you and do only what you can to help train it again.
If you havent already i would very highly recommend going to your GP or emergency to get the correct answers on what you might have. If you have and they have diagnosed this as a pneamothorax then rest recovery is the key until you feel you can breath normally without shortness of breath.
Thanks Antonia. A little story about me. I had VATS end of February. I am recovering at home. I don't go out much. Is this the right thing to do? Some people say to live your life and start being active right away. However, I have read about different cases of people with spontanious pnemo who go back to being active and then end up having to go through it again.
After 2 years do you still have collapses? Do they just go away on their own after multiple surgeries? How big were your collapses?
Cheers Antonia
Brody James
I had VATS mid March and started to do small activities about a month later, i was still having panadol on occasions to help with pain and the pain and shortness of breath did not go straight away. I only just recently have found that i dont feel inflammation and bruised pain near by ribs as much as i use to after starting yoga. I do believe rest is a big key but totally dont hide under a shell go out and slowly start doing what you want to do at your own pace, as long as you listen to your body and respect it you will be ok. If i every feel a little short of breath or a pinch of pain, i slowly down and take some slow easy breaths (learnt in yoga) Only you will know what your body is capable of and everybody heals differently But if you want to learn techniques and breathing exercises have a chat to somebody in yoga about whether they think your body is ready for it. I find that yoga has been an amazing way to retrain my breathing, mind and body. I do believe that after going through lung problems we mentally and physically train ourselves to breath in other ways without even realizing it because its comfortable and easy for the body but we forgot what is needed and required to recover the body as well. But again please dont just go off my information, its what i felt worked for me and my body. I always felt i didnt breath properly or correctly and can feel a big difference now after a month of yoga.
Dont stop doing what you want to do, listen to the body when you do it. If you want to go for a walk go for a small walk but listen to if the body hurts. if you want to have sex try it just be mindful and careful. Always listen to the body, but i do believe they need physio and retraining at times
Thank you for your story Antonia. I will take what you said and keep it in mind. I would like to try driving again but I am worried on a bumpy road my lung will absorb pain. I think I will go see my doctor soon. Thank you again.
By the way Antonia - I know everyone's body is different. However, I am wondering how many minutes can you walk for at this stage in your healing process? Do you have any pinching pain and shortness of breath still?
Cheers,
Brody
Will driving, yes do take it easy. Small steps what i found helped was a pillow up againest the sit (not to thick) and that helped reduce the bumps and vibrations. Go see your doctor for a check up make sure everything is ok, everybody heals differently. After my VATS and suffering a collapse on my other side i think it taught me to let go of all the worry and being cautious and over protective of the surgery i just had done. It taught me to just get through it, do what i can and to not avoid panadol if i needed it. To use it to help retrain my body again.
I wish you all the best and let me know how you go
Thank you Antonia You are nice to talk to. Best of luck
Brody James
I still get pinchs every now and then and sometimes a wheezing feeling when i breath (ive heard is normal) but if i do i just slow down, sit down and take a minute to breath slowly through my stomach and not get anxious. I took my dog for a walk for 20mins the other day and felt ok. But wouldnt have gone longer. Start off just up the street and see how you go if you feel short of breath its probably to much for your body
I will try that again Antonia. Last time I did that I had pinching pain and small shortness of breath for a few days. Overtime the pain has improved. I think at the rate I am healing, I should feel more stronger by September, but I may have to sacrifice my summer.
Take care Antonia
Brody James
Broody,
What's the exact procedure you had done? Do you know?
I'm not entirely sure what you mean by 'dripping', but I can tell you a few things that were absolutely freaking me out initially and I think I went to the ER like 3 or 4 times in the first month or two after the surgery.
1. Gurggling/bubbling - this has continued to happen for 3 to 4 months or more after the surgery and it like was exactly what I feared it to be - air escaping the lung. Apparently it's common to happen since I had a bullectomy done (25% of my lung was cut out and removed).
2. Shoulder blade pain - this one is again tricky since it's a common pain you have when your lung actual collapses. Apparently it happens due ot trauma to your diaphragm. This still happens now, 2 years after the surgery.
3. Lower back (or mid-back) pain similar to the actual occurrence of a pneumothorax but different in that it's dull, not sharp. This also happen for about 1 year after the surgery and would get worse with physical effort or when I'd stay in weird positions for extended periods of time
4. Extremely loud noise coming from my belly when I'd get hungry. Yeah, weird, right? Apparently something changed in regards to the intenstines layout and what not and the strongest noises came out of the side with the surgery when I'd get hungry. This lasted for more than 1 year.
5. Ribs/chest pain/burn effects from the destroyed nervous terminations. Sometimes it never heals, sometimes it takes months,
I can also tell you that I have obsessed over this for MONTHS. I know it's not easy to get over. You cannot and should not put your life on hold thought.
If you experience too much pain or get tired as easy as you portray, please check in to the ER and have an XRAY done. I know you're scared but trust me, it;'s the best thing you can do.
If the XRAY is clean then you should start to do light exercises.
Driving should absolutely be fine a few months after th surgery - so unless there's some complications (and I hope there aren't) post-op I would say you might be to sensitive about this, yes.
You will feel a lot of weird things that you're definitely not used to feeling.
The best way I can explain it is feeling your lung specifically inside of your rib cage, and....feeling it touch things - which you'd previously not used to and it is very strange.
Hope this answers your Qs - please let me know otherwise.
And, to reiterate, please check in to the ER and have a quick XRAY done (tell them your story). There's no shame in doing this and it will lift a HUGE weight off your shoulders - you'll see.
-Bogdan
Thanks Bogdan. I have all of these symptoms that you mention.
I had a total of 2 pig tails inserted in my lung. The first time it didn't work. After the second one didn't inflate the lung I was recomended a bigger tube via VATS. I had surgery Friday evening. My tube was removed after 3 days. I was in the hospital for almost 1 week. I have been at home since end of February.
Do you ever have days where pain and shortness of breath happen and you are not exactly sure why?
For example, I went somewhere a few days ago. I was standing for maybe 45 minutes. A few days later I notice a gradual increase of pinch pain and shrotness of breath. Today I have shortness of breath and pinching pain sitting up in different postions. It's been almost 4 months since my surgery. Do you think it could be because I was standing too long? Has this happend to you? Am I being too soft?
Cheers
Brody
Is having unexplained pain part of the healing process?