Overexpansion injuries Above water?

[PvtStash]

Hellohello, t'other day I had a kind of a sneeze where I'd held my breathe... afterwards I wondered what kind of internal pressure I was generating and the lungs inherent potential to stretch/expand (before rupturing)...

Is it possible to have an over expansion injury above water? If you take the biggest breathe you can and hold it, and then bear down an cough (without expelling any air) can you rupture a lung?

Anyone hear of any accidental injuries of this nature?

 

[Bubbletrubble]

Is it possible to have an over expansion injury above water?

Absolutely. As you correctly point out, it's possible to increase intrathoracic pressure by coughing or performing the Valsalva maneuver.

If you take the biggest breathe you can and hold it, and then bear down an cough (without expelling any air) can you rupture a lung?

Yes, it's possible. A common example of this occurs in smokers who are at an increased risk of spontaneous pneumothorax (PTX). Smoking leads to increased mucus production that can cause air trapping in respiratory passages upon exhalation. This situation, combined with the increased likelihood of emphysema (implying an inherent weakness in lung tissue) predisposes one to PTX. Heck, in some cases, tall, thin people have been known to suffer spontaneous PTX from coughing.

Hope this satisfies some of your curiosity...

 

[TSandM]

It takes a fair amount of force to do it on the surface with healthy lungs -- somebody who gets tackled and holds their breath, for example, or is under a car and it falls on them. With damaged lungs (eg. smokers) it's much easier, and even a cough can do it if the right lung pathology is present.

 

[Soggy_Diver]

To increase the amount of air in their lungs, some freedivers "pack" before breath holds, forcing air into their lungs. This article from Undersea and Hyperbaric Medicine describe a case of a freediver who appeared to have an embolism due to packing.

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