Vaper experiences alarming symptom before lung collapses after bubble bursts inside of him
A vaper has described the alarming symptom he experienced before his lung collapsed.
Paul Cowling had been 'chain vaping' at his desk at home when he suddenly started experiencing some severe symptoms.
There's no denying that the popularity of vaping has increased dramatically over the last few years.
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While initially it was seen as a 'safer' alternative to smoking regular cigarettes, it's now become clear that vaping carries its own risks.
While those risks are still emerging, the number of young people vaping in the UK is becoming an increasing concern.
One person who learned just how dangerous vapes can be was Paul, who ended up crawling into A&E in agony after getting a sudden, sharp pain in the right side of his chest.
Initially, Paul, 32, thought the problem was trapped wind, but when he started struggling to breathe, he booked an appointment with a doctor who told him he had a suspected collapsed lung.
"I was going through four or five disposable vapes in a seven day week," said Paul.
"It was all quite sudden. I was just working at my desk as normal and I took some vape and I got this sudden sharp pain in the right side of my chest.
"I originally thought it was trapped wind because my diaphragm was fully inflated.
"I left work an hour early because I was in so much pain and I was taking lots of gas-releasing remedies because I thought it was trapped wind.
"It started off as a sharp pain in my chest and then it became a very heavy dull ache after that and that is when the breathlessness started.
"The pain was just getting progressively worse. It was terrible and I was struggling to breathe at this point."
After being sent to A&E, Paul explained that he was taken straight in for an X-ray and was told he had something called hemopneumothorax, which is trapped air and blood in the lung.
"With the damage done with smoking and vaping, the walls of your lungs thin and they develop these air sacs outside of the lung," he added.
"The moment I took in the vape it caused one of those bubbles to explode and collapse my lung and because it was so sudden it took a blood vessel with it.
"They told me they needed to put a chest drain in my lung to re-inflate it and they said nine times out of ten this works but it didn't on me."
Paul was rushed to Wythenshawe Hospital for a three-hour surgery, prior to which he had to have a double blood transfusion due to a blood vessel which had popped inside his lung.
He has been left with 'life-changing' repercussions and has said he will never touch a vape again.
"It's put me off vaping for life. I haven't touched one since and the surgeon gave me a very stern warning," he said.
"Before this happened to me, I was a very active, healthy person. I was a keen hiker and I can't do that at the moment.
"There is no scientific evidence out there yet telling you the damage that vapes are doing but if they weren't causing damage, this wouldn't happen to you."
Lucy Devine