A man who vaped a hole in his lung has issued a plea to other young people to quit e-cigarettes.
Joseph Lawrence, 25, who lives in Las Vegas, revealed he had been puffing on the fruity-flavored devices daily for years.
But earlier this month he suddenly found he was struggling to breathe and was rushed 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, which can raise the risk of the complication even months after quitting vaping.
A collapsed lung is when there is a hole in the lung allowing air to rush into the vacuum — area containing no matter — between the lung and chest wall, causing the lung to collapse. The condition is rarely fatal and can be treated in hospital.
Mr Lawrence wrote on X, previously Twitter: ‘If you vape, please consider quitting. I had a hole in my lung the other day and had to be rushed to the ER because I could not breathe.
Joseph Lawrence, 25, who now lives in Las Vegas, said he suffered from a collapsed lung after using vapes
He is pictured above with one of the devices, which he said he puffs on nearly every day
‘Thankfully I’m doing okay 1710363733 and it didn’t fully collapse.’ He added: ‘Please take care of yourselves and consider quitting, it’s not worth it.’
He is one of several Americans to suffer from the injury, after a Florida vape addict also revealed 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 manufactured in China, and have been flooding the US in recent years with the FDA struggling to regulate the market.
Mr Lawrence didn’t reveal the type of vape he was using, but said he had been puffing on the devices for years. He has also occasionally smoked cigarettes.
He said doctors believed vapes had caused the injury.
Mr Lawrence (right) is pictured above holding a cigarette. He also occasionally smokes
Vapes have soared in popularity in the US with an estimated 8.1million Americans — including 3million middle and high schoolers — now puffing on them every week.
A collapsed lung stops the organ from inflating and deflating properly to force air in and out, leaving sufferers struggling to breathe and with stabbing chest pains and a rapid heart rate.
The condition is rarely fatal, but doctors say it needs to be treated quickly to avoid the hole getting any worse or a drop in oxygen levels in the blood that can 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, a critical care doctor at Johns Hopkins in Maryland, previously told DailyMail.com: ‘Inflammation is going to compromise the lungs.
‘If you are doing vaping over and over again, you are going to make the walls of the lungs lose their integrity, become more compliant and then, in the right situation, that 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 those who smoke to quit the habit.
But with the advent of more fruity flavors they have spurred a whole generation of youngsters who are addicted to the devices.
Studies are now starting to suggest that using vapes may be no better for the lungs than traditional cigarettes because they also contain toxic chemicals.
