Recovery Training from Heamothorax & Pneumothorax



hockinsk

New Member
Jun 23, 2005
17
0
0
Hi, not been here for a while.

I had a 25mph collision with a car when it just pulled out in front of me with no warning leaving me with the above injuries. After 6 weeks doing nothing other than watching TV i've just been out on the bike for the first time today which was truly wonderful. However, I was horrified at just how much lung capacity i've lost. I would say i'm well over 50% less than compared to before the accident.

Has anyone got any advice on training or ways of making a full recovery? I mean will my lungs get back to full capacity with training again or will there be some permanent damage because they have been badly compressed?

I have very, very little chest pain now, and my leg muscles seem to be in reasonable shape, but I just have no puff. It feels like every slight hill is an Alpe at the moment.

Anyway, any advice would be great. The doctors don't really know as they just deal with normal unfit people and so just say you'll be back to normal in 6 to 8 weeks. Well I am back to normal after 6 weeks, but i'm obviously a cyclist and we ain't normal people are we : )
 
I'm not familiar with what Heamothorax & Pneumothorax is so take that into consideration. I do know of a breathing exercise that might help open the little sacks that might be pinched shut in the lungs from shallow breathing and lack of use.

Take about twenty deep slow breaths then inhale deep and hold your breath and beat on your chest like a gorrila for a couple seconds then exhale. If it works you should feel a little oxygen rush.

hockinsk said:
Hi, not been here for a while.

I had a 25mph collision with a car when it just pulled out in front of me with no warning leaving me with the above injuries. After 6 weeks doing nothing other than watching TV i've just been out on the bike for the first time today which was truly wonderful. However, I was horrified at just how much lung capacity i've lost. I would say i'm well over 50% less than compared to before the accident.

Has anyone got any advice on training or ways of making a full recovery? I mean will my lungs get back to full capacity with training again or will there be some permanent damage because they have been badly compressed?

I have very, very little chest pain now, and my leg muscles seem to be in reasonable shape, but I just have no puff. It feels like every slight hill is an Alpe at the moment.

Anyway, any advice would be great. The doctors don't really know as they just deal with normal unfit people and so just say you'll be back to normal in 6 to 8 weeks. Well I am back to normal after 6 weeks, but i'm obviously a cyclist and we ain't normal people are we : )
 
wiredued said:
I'm not familiar with what Heamothorax & Pneumothorax
In layman's terms a Hemothorax is blood in the chest cavity and a Pneumothroax is air in the chest cavity.....both causing a collapse lung. A chest tube is inserted to re-gain the negative pressure in the chest cavity to allow the lung to function normally. As far a training goes your Doc is the guy in charge but lung injuries can take time to heal.

 
Thanks for the advice guys. The deep breathing thing works and is something i've had to do when in hospital (without the gorilla/tarzan bit though!) after I first came off morphine and oxygen (puked my guts up?). I guess I will just need time and training, just it's frustrating to loose all that fitness in just 6 weeks + I don't know what long-term damage might be caused which is my main concern now.

Just for your information - a Heamothorax (in my left lung) is where the cavity around your lung (thorax I think) fills up with blood and gradually increases pressure making it difficult/impossible to expand the lung as you try and breath.

A Pneumothorax (in my right lung) is very similar, but you guessed it, the cavity fills up with air as you take each breath instead.

[edit] - opps didn't see you there bladegeek - spot on though - i have two scars now near my armpits where the drains were inserted - ouch!
 
hockinsk said:
Thanks for the advice guys. The deep breathing thing works and is something i've had to do when in hospital (without the gorilla/tarzan bit though!) after I first came off morphine and oxygen (puked my guts up?). I guess I will just need time and training, just it's frustrating to loose all that fitness in just 6 weeks + I don't know what long-term damage might be caused which is my main concern now.

Just for your information - a Heamothorax (in my left lung) is where the cavity around your lung (thorax I think) fills up with blood and gradually increases pressure making it difficult/impossible to expand the lung as you try and breath.

A Pneumothorax (in my right lung) is very similar, but you guessed it, the cavity fills up with air as you take each breath instead.

[edit] - opps didn't see you there bladegeek - spot on though - i have two scars now near my armpits where the drains were inserted - ouch!

irrespective of the actual injuries (i don't know how they would affect you other than delaying your return), having six weeks off from training will lose you all or most of your fitness, i.e., you'll return to a sedentary like fitness (it may be higher, but you won't be race or training fit).

So, when you say you run out of puff, i'm not sure whether you're complaining about reduced lung function (which i guess would have happened) or whether you mean that your aerobic function (i.e., VO2max and LT) have decreased significantly (which they will have done) leaving you huffing and puffing if you try to ride too intensely (which will be a lot less intensely than prior to your accident).

are there any respiratory physiologists on the forum?

Ric
 
hockinsk said:
I don't know what long-term damage might be caused which is my main concern now.
At an individual's level, you'll never know what performances you lost from your potential.

The fact that you didn't lose any lung tissue (surgical lobectomy/segmentectomy) as a result of your injury would suggest that you'll recover well. Over time, your lung will fully refill your pleural space and you'll be fine.

Take it easy and get back when you are ready.
 
hockinsk said:
scars now near my armpits where the drains were inserted - ouch!
Yep chest tubes hurt. Just a little local anesthetic, a small cut between the ribs, a large kelly clap on the pointed plastic chest tube is then stuck between the ribs....ouch is right. It always hurts.



 
I'm a critical care RN. Didn't they introduce you to the incentive spirometer when you came off the vent ? ( The thing you inhale into and measure volume and force)
Continue to use it - pm me if you need instruction.
Don't overcook the training too soon. The last thing you want to do is pull another pneumo.
A good critical pulmonologist is the high hog at the trough in the ICU - there are a lot of crappy ones though...
Do your rehab for another month, talk to him about a Pulmonary Function Test.
You have no baseline (unless you are on a big bucks team ) , but you can track improvement over time.
If you are still hurting bad, don't " John Wayne" it with the analgesics.You get better quicker with effective pain control. Plenty of hydration - as you probably know, gut action is slowed by the dope.

Hang in there brother !
 

Similar threads