I am 28 years old athletic female.I have a very healthy lifestyle I eat well and work out 4-5 times/week.i had two spontaneous Pneumothorax 3 years ago on the left lung. I went under the surgery to fix the problem.I recovered well however I left with pain.I have sudden sharp pain on the left side it ysuly gets better after a few minutes I went back to see a doctor but they couldn't find any problem. Now I started to have pain on the right side the pain is very similar to the one during pneumothorax however it isn't as strong and it goes away within 5-15 min. I am scared if I will have a collapse lung in my right side as well now, not sure why I still have pain or if it is chronic pain. I also have chesty cough every morning for an hour or so. I don't smoke at all and I am wondering why I still haven't feel 100% after 3years.
Hi I've had quite a few and had operations on both my lungs. I am 33 and train in the gym a lot. I always get pains on my left and right chest. This has been going on for years and as my surgeon said it's part of the nigs and nags I should expect years after surgery...
My daughter had a 10% pneumothorax on her left lung and no surgery in November. She has had continued similar pain as you describe on her left lung and now has them on the right side as well. However her pain lasts anywhere from a few minutes to 3 days. I hear a lot of people describe this pain after surgery, but my gut says the pain would be there even without surgery as it obviously is on your right side now. So far no doctor has been able to tell us why my daughter has pain. We have the same worries about collapse.
You may benefit from physical therapy. My son continued to have chest and back pain after having chest tube for spontanous pnemothorax. The nhe came down with upper respitory infection which caused a lot of coughing. After serveral visits for ER, his Pulmonologist prescribed physcial therapy. He said the back and chest pain is due to pain in his chest wall. After completion of the therapy my son's pain subside considerably.
Best of luck to you.
My daughter had VATS surgery - thoracotomy and mechanical pleurodesis about 4 years ago. It was an excruciating recovery period with just breathing after the surgery. She was in the hospital for 11 days. Soon afterward she started having the same chest pains and thought her lung had collapsed again. It was confirmed that the procedure was a success and that she woud not have another lung collapse on the same side again. however, she continues to have painful episodes where it truly feels like she is having another collapse. We didn't know who to see to discuss this pain. Pumonologist or surgeon. Surgeon said pulmonologist, pulmonologist said surgeon. We went to famiy dr. and she advised pulmonologist. They did breathing treatments and listened to her describe the pain. He stated this was probably scar tissue and she would always have some pain unless she wanted to have surgery to repair the scar tissue, which she refused. So basically she needs to live with this horrible pain when it hits. It is scary but goes away within an hour or less. Most often less. It seems to happen more often in cold weather and hours later after she exerts herself with exercise. I hope someone reads this and can provide additional options for her instead of just living with the nigs and nags.
Hi Dee, i had a spontaneous pneumothorax 5 years ago and I still don't feel 100%. I have sharp pains shortness of breath I'm tired all the time and sometimes have a warm sensation on my right side where the tubes were inserted I also ache a lot. I've been to the doctors numerous times but he listened to my chest and he said I'm getting enough oxygen in my lungs and says im ok I've had chest X-rays but I've not had a ct scan yet which would show better results than a normal X-ray I'm waiting for my doctor to refer me a ct scan on my lungs. Hope your doctor can help you xx it seems never ending for me as they don't listen unless your on the phone to your doctor every week.
Hello! I just had VATS surgery for a spontaneous pneumothorax a month ago. Prior to the collapse, I was running 25 miles a week and don't fit the standard for this at all, I am 5'3", in my 30's and 125 lbs. I have never been a smoker. After a week in the hospital, I was released and cleared with a follow up xray 2 weeks later. I started running again in 1/2 mile increments but the next day felt about 50% of what the pain was when I had the pneumo. Then it started hurting in my other lung as well! I got another xray and discovered my lung had dropped about 10%, but the pleuridis or whatever did it's job and my lung healed itself after rest. I still haven't tried running yet, and still have pain in my lung and back. My doctor said it is either scar tissue or the nerves healing themselves. I am hoping not to have these twinges for years, as it sounds like others have had! It is just a scary thing to not be able to prevent it from happening, and questioning every pain I have as to whether it is another pneumo. I am really hoping to be able to get back to my running schedule and any advice or encouragement or sucess stories would be welcome!
I had the surgeries after a pneumothorax a year ago, still having problems. I went to a new dr 3 weeks ago, he informed me 1. they removed one of my ribs when they did the surgery (glad someone told me) 2. I'll continue to have these pains for about 3 more years. Apparently when they cut into all the muscles and nerve bundles, etc, it takes a long time to heal. I agree with Michellejo, the pain after the surgeries was excruciating.
Hi bamawife, I had my spontanious pneumothorax 5 years ago and they glued my lung to my chest wall and they said i would be uncomfortable as there may be scar tissue after the op so i will get pain now and again and they were right i have pain and i get tired easy. I've never used an inhaler before but since the op I get out of breath easy after excercise or walks so I now have to take an inhaler I used to be fit before my operation and go to the gym 5 days a week I can't do that now just light excercise I hope your pain goes away soon.
Hi, a had a spontaneous pneumothorax a week ago (I did't have surgery) and I was released from the hospital yesterday, and I must say that the pain was excruciating. After reading all those comments about your experiences made me really scared about what it's to come. I will follow this discussion and inform you about any progress.
hi ive just had my op 2 weeks ago sunday op went ok and now been discharged but the right lung is still not fully inflated and i have to go back every week for xrays i have the same problem im in a hell of a lot of pain i know my op was only 2 weeks ago but the pain is very severe sharp shooting pain in the right lung and i find it hard to breath and the nipple area is so sensitive so i know how you feel my specialist said i may have to have another op and worst case lose the right lung im a postman also and very fit and healthy im just hoping the pain settles down and i can return to work but the hospital have asked my doc to sign me off for 12 weeks minimum fingers crossed i have good news tomorrow and i dont have to go through the pain of having a chest drain put in while im awake and no anathestic as i hurts like hell
check serrapeptaze enzyme, it breaks down non living proteins eg scar tissue also clears veins and arteries great for those who have quit smoking. my lung has recently collapsed so we shall see if it works, fingers crossed
i had a minor collapse yesterday, only a small air bubble formed so they couldnt operate, the initial pain was terrible but subsided over a few hours. im the classic type to suffer a collapse ( skinny and a smoker) iv swapped to e cigs and feel a improvement just the cold weather seems to cause me the most trouble. but iv stared taking serrapeptaze enzyme which breaks down scar tissue, iv only started today but have read many positive reports hope this may help xx
My collapses and surgery was on the left lung. I had 1-4 years of doctors appointments and x-rays to figure out why I still got sharp, stabbing pains in my chest, it was found that I had a tiny Pneumothorax on the top of my left lung, but it eventually healed itself. However I had pains still and pains that were appearing in my right side, which didn't make sense as the surgery only happened on my left, BUT AMAZINGLY I figured out with a physiotherapist that the muscles that are connected to your spine, when they are damaged/tired/over stretched, this pain will actually be felt at the front of your chest. This was life changing for my pain, as I started doing yoga (GREAT for training your breathing again) and stretching out my back (as I started hunching my shoulders in with my pain) and the pain does release! If you get a pain, try not to panic and do some very SLOW and nice stretches with your arms to release tension in your back...you should notice a HUGE difference...
Hope this helps!
God Bless
Nicky
I am 27 years old, 5'11" and 125 lbs - tall and skinny to say the least - and pregnant. I had a spontaneous pneumo in January during my first trimester and was in the hospital a month. They tried 3 chest tubes but my left lung would not heal on its own and kept collapsing every time they tried to take me off suction. I had VATS surgery end of January on my left lung which, as far as I was told, was successful. Months later I still feel pain, sometimes sharp sudden pain around my incisions which goes away within a minute or two, but is shocking none the less. I know I had a lot of nerve damage because I had some complications with my first 2 chest tubes, and now 5 months pregnant I am being stretched out bigger while my left side is trying to heal. I have some concerns about how I'll do with labour as a result of this. My brother had a spontaneous pneumo on both his left and right lung last year. He did not have surgery, and seems pretty well back to normal, doesn't complain much about any pain or anything. He tells me to be patient and I'll feel more normal next year. Here's hoping!
I am pretty much in the same boat as you, dee81927. I continue to have that terrible gut wrenching pain from time to pain. The only thing that has successfully "managed" the pain. Epidural blocks and Percocets, a lot of them. I can't figure out why I can't seem to put this behind me.
To make matters worse, I am constantly short of breath, no cough, but breathless from as little as walking 175 foot around the outside of my home, in a leasurely manner. I can't talk and walk at the same time, I get so short of breath and wheezing, I sometimes have a panic attack. I have an Abuteral rescue inhaler (does not seem to help, much), Spiriva and Symbacort. Another serious thing that has started is my mouth gets soo dry, I can't even speak. I thought it was the inhalers, I went off all 3 for 4 weeks, no change. I used to get so anxious when I would get SOB, I would lose control of my bladder. I keep thinking it's a flare up and I'll get over it. I'm starting to think, this maybe as good as it's going to get. I don't smoke, I don't have a cough, I'm at a loss as to how/where to go from here. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated
I had both my lungs collapse last year , and had to have operations on both to get fixed. Since then I do get aches and pains occasionally , feel tired all the time and get short of breath. Because they messed up my second op , my left lung has always been uncomfortable and the area around the scars are numb. I'm not sure how long it fully takes to recover from the operations , but it would seem it can take a long time.
Hi, I've had three or four episodes on my right lung before operation 5 years ago. I used to do a lot of sports and had to stop. In my expierence the pain never went away, even after 5 years. Sometimes I'm good, sometimes bad, but 2 years from now I decided to do yoga and get back to all my sports. It's helping me a lot. I still have the pain, much less in fact, but at this right moment I'm in much bigger pain because of a rhinitis/sinus condition but I'll tell you: I will not go back to see the doctor, unless I'm almost dying because the threatment is always the same. Take a rest, somehitng for the pain and wait.
Is the operation you did called VATs?
Im just a little concerned because my left lung collapsed once and it wasn't that big of deal because it eventually healed by itself, 6 months later my right lung collapsed and the doctor had to put a chest tube for it to expand and if it reoccurs il probably undergo surgery. I mainly want to know if your able to run, play sports or do any kinds of exercise properly or if you had ever traveled by air after the surgery?
I had broken ribs, along with a pneumothorax-and three transverse process fractures in June of 2015. I spent 4 days in the hospital (no surgery)...
I am running in a Mud Run in two weeks and I'm concerned because I still have a lot of tenderness and pain in my left side, where the collapse was. I can only describe it as my "lung hurts". Laying on my side is still very uncomfortable at times. Most times.