Spotaneous Pneumothorax

[MrCarbon]

Hi, I am new here, but still want to discuss a serious matter with you.

On the 16th of April 2015 I suffered from a Spontaneous Pneumothorax.

This happened while I was asleep.
At first I didn't immediately realized that I was unwell, but than after a short walk, incredibly painful sharp pains started on the left side of my torso. To cut a long story short, they diagnosed a spontaneous pneumothorax on my left lung. The perforation was very small, in fact they didn't do any surgery, not even a draining. The bad news came when they told me that I cannot dive anymore, due to parts of my lung tissue being extremely thin.

Till now I didn't have any complications, even if the doctors are saying that probably it will happen again.

Now, coming to my question, is there someone here who maybe suffered from the same thing, and returned to freediving? Maybe even in shallow waters?

Thanks for any help or advice

Brian

 

[freediverdude]

Did they know why parts of the lung tissue are very thin like that? I think I would be asking more as to how that condition happens.

 

[MrCarbon]

Hi,
I think that the doctors just assume in this case, but mostly I had two answers. The first one is that I developed very quickly, in fact most of the docs told me that SPX is more common in tall, young, thin man. The others said that it could be genetic, even if like I said they don't seem very sure.

 

[psimian]

SPX is a definite red flag for scuba diving because the blebs (weak pockets in the lungs) empty their air more slowly than the rest of the lungs. As you ascend, the compressed air you've been breathing is trapped, and you end up with barotrauma the same way you would if you held your breath while ascending on scuba.

With freediving you aren't putting compressed air into your lungs, so this kind of barotrauma should be impossible (at least I've never heard of a case). As long as you can freedive without subjecting your lungs to unusual pressures (no packing, no valsalva technique, no going deep enough that you have trouble equalizing) I can't see why it would be more dangerous than any other form of exercise.

Ask the doctor what specific activities/factors could cause a recurrence; if you're cleared to swim laps in a pool, there's at least a chance that conservative freediving is still a possibility.

 

[prospector]

SPX is a definite red flag for scuba diving because the blebs (weak pockets in the lungs) empty their air more slowly than the rest of the lungs. As you ascend, the compressed air you've been breathing is trapped, and you end up with barotrauma the same way you would if you held your breath while ascending on scuba.

With freediving you aren't putting compressed air into your lungs, so this kind of barotrauma should be impossible (at least I've never heard of a case). As long as you can freedive without subjecting your lungs to unusual pressures (no packing, no valsalva technique, no going deep enough that you have trouble equalizing) I can't see why it would be more dangerous than any other form of exercise.

Ask the doctor what specific activities/factors could cause a recurrence; if you're cleared to swim laps in a pool, there's at least a chance that conservative freediving is still a possibility.

Realize this is an old thread but I am considering having a needle biopsy done on my lungs, wondered if anyone out there had had this procedure and if it affected post procedure freediving, any complications etc, any comments would be appreciated .