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A man who vaped a hole in his lung has issued a plea to other young people to stop using e-cigarettes.
Joseph Lawrence, 25, who lives in Las Vegas, revealed that he had been puffing on the fruity-flavored devices daily for years.
But earlier this month he suddenly discovered he was having trouble breathing and was taken to hospital, where scans showed he had a hole in his lung.
The hundreds of irritants in e-cigarettes can trigger inflammation that damages the lining of the lungs, increasing the risk of the complication even months after you quit vaping.
A collapsed lung is when there is a hole in the lung that allows air to flow into the vacuum – the area that contains nothing – between the lung and the chest wall, causing the lung to collapse. The condition is rarely fatal and can be treated in hospital.
Lawrence wrote on X, formerly Twitter: ‘If you vape, consider quitting. I had a punctured lung the other day and had to be rushed to the ER because I couldn’t breathe.
Joseph Lawrence, 25, who now lives in Las Vegas, said he suffered a collapsed lung after using vapes
He is pictured above with one of the devices, which he said he breathes on almost every day
‘Luckily I’m fine (now) and it didn’t completely fall apart.’ He added: ‘Please look after yourselves and consider quitting, it’s not worth it.’
He is one of several Americans suffering from the damage after a vape addict from Florida also revealed that he had suffered from the complication. In another case, a 19-year-old in West Virginia said his lungs had collapsed four times.
Many vapes are poorly regulated and made in China and have flooded the US in recent years with the FDA struggling to regulate the market.
Lawrence did not reveal what type of vape he used, but said he had been vaping the devices for years. He also occasionally smoked cigarettes.
He said doctors believed fumes had caused the injury.
Mr Lawrence (right) is pictured above with a cigarette. He also smokes occasionally
Vapes have surged in popularity in the United States, with an estimated 8.1 million Americans — including 3 million middle and high school students — now puffing on them every week.
A collapsed lung preventing the organ from properly inflating and deflating to force air in and out, leaving patients struggling to breathe and with stabbing chest pains and a rapid pulse.
The condition is rarely fatal, but doctors say it must be treated quickly to avoid the hole getting worse or a drop in blood oxygen levels that could damage internal organs.
It is treated by inserting a tube into the chest to suck air out of the vacuum to restore it – while giving the lung enough time to heal and close the hole.
Dr. Panagis Galiatsatos, an emergency physician at Johns Hopkins in Maryland, previously told DailyMail.com: ‘Inflammation is going to compromise the lungs.
‘If you’re vaping over and over again, you’re going to cause the walls of the lungs to lose their integrity, become more compliant, and then, in the right situation, it results in a tear.’
Dr. Galiatsatos, who is also a spokesman for the American Lung Association, said he has already seen two young patients with underlying conditions who suffered from the same condition.
Vapes were previously heralded as an excellent way to help smokers quit the habit.
But with the advent of fruitier flavors, they have spurred a whole generation of young people addicted to the devices.
Studies are now beginning to suggest that using vapes may not be better for the lungs than traditional cigarettes because they also contain toxic chemicals.