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Loud Music Can Cause Lung Collapse

ahrenritter writes "This Reuters article discusses a report in the medical journal Thorax describing the cases of three young men who suffered a lung collapse (pneumothorax) apparently triggered by standing too close to very loud concert speakers. A fourth case occurred in a car that was outfitted with a 1,000 watt bass box. I guess deafness isn't all we have to worry about now!"

68 comments

  1. No Discussion or Comments Can Be Found by Marxist+Hacker+42 · · Score: 1

    That's a new error on me- so I guess I'll create one. Heavy Metal and Punk Rock is supposed to be about PAIN- I guess this gives a whole new meaning to the term "Slam Dancing"

    --
    SJW: a person who perceives an injustice, and while correcting it, commits a greater injustice.
    1. Re:No Discussion or Comments Can Be Found by doctormetal · · Score: 4, Funny

      How about: This music is breath taking?

    2. Re:No Discussion or Comments Can Be Found by venomkid · · Score: 1

      I guess this gives a whole new meaning to the term "Slam Dancing"

      How?

      --
      vk.
    3. Re:No Discussion or Comments Can Be Found by Marxist+Hacker+42 · · Score: 1

      The speakers slam the air right out of your lungs and into your chest cavity, of course!

      --
      SJW: a person who perceives an injustice, and while correcting it, commits a greater injustice.
    4. Re:No Discussion or Comments Can Be Found by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      So that's what they're using at the Police Ready Sound Weapon For GOP Convention
      Police Ready Sound Weapon For GOP Convention

      author: Relay Forget the megaphones. Police will have a much more high-tech -- and louder -- option to make themselves heard over the din of Manhattan traffic and noisy protesters outside the Republican National Convention.

      (Not in the habit of this sort of posting, but folks wishing to attend should be forewarned of what could be in store for them.)

      Associated Press | August 19 2004

      It's called the Long Range Acoustic Device, developed for the military and capable of blasting warnings, orders or anything else at an ear-splitting 150 decibels.

      Authorities on Thursday unveiled a mini-arsenal of devices and counterterrorism equipment they're getting ready for the convention, which opens a week from Monday.

      The sound machines are being tested at an airfield in a remote section of Brooklyn along with other devices such as hand-held radiation detectors -- for a possible "dirty bomb" -- and mechanical barriers strong enough to stop a moving vehicle in its tracks.

      At the Brooklyn training site on Thursday, police practiced disarming a truck bomb at a checkpoint. Scores of officers also made mock arrests of police academy cadets who posed as protesters.

      Chanting "no justice, no peace," the cadets surrounded a bus full of "delegates" before officers in riot gear raced in, slapped on plastic "flex cuffs" and led them away to vans.

      The demonstration was intended to show how the nation's largest police department hopes "to put a comprehensive security net over Madison Square Garden and the rest of the city," said Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly.

      "I think you'll see we're prepared."

      The department recently bought two of the 45-pound acoustic sound machines for $35,000 apiece, and plans to mount them on Humvees posted outside Madison Square Garden. It would mark the first time the instrument -- which can beam sounds for 300 yards or more -- has been used by a civilian force.

      "We believe we'd be able to use them in a number of scenarios ," said Paul Browne, the police department's chief spokesman.

  2. Dr. Seuss by Rufus88 · · Score: 3, Funny

    a report in the medical journal Thorax

    I wouldn't trust anything in a medical journal made by Dr. Seuss.

  3. The Scene is an Outdoor Concert by Picass0 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Guy #1: Hey, I'm having a hard time breathing!

    Guy #2: What!?!

  4. Shakespeare quote... by CaptainPinko · · Score: 4, Funny

    Guy #1: Hey, I'm having a hard time breathing!

    Act 2, Scene 5

    JULIET

    How art thou out of breath, when thou hast breath
    To say to me that thou art out of breath?
    The excuse that thou dost make in this delay
    Is longer than the tale thou dost excuse.
    Is thy news good, or bad? answer to that;
    Say either, and I'll stay the circumstance:
    Let me be satisfied, is't good or bad?

    --
    Your CPU is not doing anything else, at least do something.
  5. Kids these days... by adamjaskie · · Score: 0

    ...and their damn rap music. When i'm driving along, I don't need your snoop-dog interrupting my Maurizio Pollini. Harumph. Damn hooligans.

    --
    /usr/games/fortune
  6. Loud by black+mariah · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I don't think it's fair to place this solely on music. There are many things far louder than your average concert. It's interesting nonetheless. If you've never seen bands like Floor, High on Fire, Khanate, or SunnO))), you really can't understand how sound waves can have that much power. When I saw Floor, my entire body shook. When they'd do sudden stops I felt like I was going to fall over. The only thing I've heard that is louder than them are top fuel (nitromethane powered) dragsters.

    Before you ask, I wear earplugs at every show I go to.

    --
    'Standards' in computing only impress those who are impressed by things like 'standards'.
    1. Re:Loud by Neon+Spiral+Injector · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I was in an extended cab pickup running 4 18" subs powered by 2400 watts of amps. When I got out I was extremely dizzy. Felt like I had just got off a roller coaster.

      I've also seen top fuellers up close. They are definately louder, but only for 3 seconds.

    2. Re:Loud by WhatAmIDoingHere · · Score: 1

      If it's so loud that you have to wear earplugs when you're at a concert.. Doesn't that say something?

      --
      Not a Twitter sockpuppet... but I wish I was.
    3. Re:Loud by Jerf · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I don't think it's fair to place this solely on music. There are many things far louder than your average concert.

      While we'd have to wait for the science to be sure, I think attributing it on the music is fair. Your other loud sounds are noisy, in the spectrum sense. Only music (that I can plausibly think of as a routine occurance) will blast all the energy into a relatively tight frequency distribution. It is very plausible that this could have an effect.

      While the global volume of a drag racer and a loud rock concert maybe the same, I would imagine that the rock concert could have a lot more energy right at, say, 30Hz, and if you're an unlucky smoker who happens to have a resonance frequency in your lungs there, well, that could be a problem.

      (Remember, folks, Star Trek to the contrary most things do not have a strong resonance frequency, especially soft things. However, as you pump more and more energy into some object, even a very weak resonance that would normally never be noticed could be enough to tip you over the edge. Your lungs won't have any strong resonance frequency that someone could play to "tear your lungs apart" at a really low volume level, but if you've already compromised them by smoking you might just rip something in there. Eventually, loud sound starts to look like an explosion from an instantaneous perspective...)

    4. Re:Loud by OldManAndTheC++ · · Score: 1
      Before you ask, I wear earplugs at every show I go to.

      I did ask, and you just looked at me as if you couldn't hear what I was saying! :)

      --
      Soylent Green is peoplicious!
    5. Re:Loud by djsmiley · · Score: 2, Insightful

      "Your other loud sounds are noisy, in the spectrum sense. Only music (that I can plausibly think of as a routine occurance) will blast all the energy into a relatively tight frequency distribution"

      Pnumatic drills / hammers also do this? Incredablely fast?

      i know that the workmen using theses in the UK must ware ear protection, but now it seems they might need to ware airpressured suits before use too?

      Btw, tbh i been to a fair few concerts, its kinda ovious that its BAD idea to stand near speakers, if anyone ever tries to sue over this fact, ill be amazed.

      Also sorry for my bad spelling, its night time and im off to bed =)

      --
      - http://www.milkme.co.uk
    6. Re:Loud by black+mariah · · Score: 1

      Yeah. It says the band is loud. What's your point?

      --
      'Standards' in computing only impress those who are impressed by things like 'standards'.
    7. Re:Loud by black+mariah · · Score: 1

      Oddly enough, at shows, I hear voices BETTER with earplugs in. The high end frequencies that muck up my ears don't get in, and the plugs I have don't filter out many voice-level frequencies.

      --
      'Standards' in computing only impress those who are impressed by things like 'standards'.
    8. Re:Loud by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No one cares what shitty bands you listen to.

    9. Re:Loud by OldManAndTheC++ · · Score: 1
      ...high frequencies...

      I met a guy once who had been at an Emerson, Lake and Palmer concert back in the day. Their show featured a monster electronic synthesizer, a real one made of tubes, not the fancy digital stuff they have these days. ELP liked to use a lot of high notes, and as this guy was right up next to the speakers, you can guess the rest. He wears a hearing aid now.

      But he said it was a great show ... :)

      --
      Soylent Green is peoplicious!
    10. Re:Loud by MyDixieWrecked · · Score: 1

      Holy shit. I never thought that anyone on slashdot listened to good music. I have a new found respect for you guys! :D

      what about bands like Jucifer, Japanther, and Lightning Bolt? An albatros? Daughters? Black Dahlia Murder?

      --



      ...spike
      Ewwwwww, coconut...
    11. Re:Loud by black+mariah · · Score: 1

      I like Jucifer, hate BDM, and haven't heard the rest.

      --
      'Standards' in computing only impress those who are impressed by things like 'standards'.
    12. Re:Loud by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why don't they just play the music quieter? What's the point of playing so loud people need earplugs? So that you can collapse their lungs? That's just stupid.

    13. Re:Loud by black+mariah · · Score: 2, Informative

      Because at a certain point, the volume becomes part of the performance. Both the physical reaction by the audience, and the psychoacoustic reaction of the room. It's some brain-melting stuff. I suggest listening to Glenn Branca's 'Symphony No. 6: Devil Choirs at the Gates of Heaven' for a good example. Part five (it's a symphony in six parts) sounds like it is overdubbed with all manner of strange synths and choir noises, but in fact it's all just guitars. The overtones generated by nine guitars cranked way the hell up are phenomenal, and you simply don't get them at low volumes.

      Loud music also has distinct physical effects on the listener. The band (I hesitate to call them a band. They're more of a performance art project gone horrifyingly wrong... or right ;) ) Khanate uses this to great advantage. Their whole stated purpose is to make their audience feel really uncomfortable and just creep them the hell out, and volume works very well in meeting that goal.

      For the record, I wear earplugs to ALL shows I go to. Not all of them are loud enough to effect my hearing, but I wear them anyway. I noticed a couple of years back that constant practice sessions with my band were doing a number on my hearing so I bought some plugs and have worn them at practice and shows ever since.

      --
      'Standards' in computing only impress those who are impressed by things like 'standards'.
    14. Re:Loud by cornjchob · · Score: 2, Funny

      If it's so loud that you have to wear earplugs when you're at a concert.. Doesn't that say something?

      Ya--you're too damned old!

      --
      We now have confirmed reports from an informed Orange County minister that Ethel is still an active communist.
    15. Re:Loud by MyDixieWrecked · · Score: 1

      I think you'd like An Albatross and Daughters. check them out.

      --



      ...spike
      Ewwwwww, coconut...
    16. Re:Loud by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I still say it's stupid. Like watching football stupid. And that's pretty dumb.

    17. Re:Loud by black+mariah · · Score: 0, Troll

      Ah, so you're one of those people. Just go back to your Michael Bolton and STFU.

      --
      'Standards' in computing only impress those who are impressed by things like 'standards'.
    18. Re:Loud by Halfbaked+Plan · · Score: 2, Funny

      When people like you get old, they wear hearing aids.

      Have fun.

      --
      resigned
    19. Re:Loud by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Michael Bolton sucks, but is this STFU band any good? I'm guessing black mariah thinks not, but can anyone else comment?

    20. Re:Loud by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Look, just go away you moronic AC. You're acting like a whiny child. You know what STFU means. Do it.

    21. Re:Loud by Zaak · · Score: 1

      Pnumatic drills / hammers also do this?

      Probably not. The sound of an impact is very localized in time, so it is spread out in the frequency domain. A musical sound is spread out in time, so it can be very localized in frequency.

      TTFN

  7. haven't had problem breathing... by sevinkey · · Score: 5, Interesting

    but anyone else ever been at a concert with such low rumbling rediculous bass that you can feel your heart beating a little off?

    this only happened to me with dead voices on air, which uses a rediculous about of computer processing, but this was beyond nautious.

    1. Re:haven't had problem breathing... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      What about beating off?

    2. Re:haven't had problem breathing... by venomkid · · Score: 1

      I saw The Faint at the 9:30 club a little while back. They use a lot of analog synth (Korg ms2000 I believe).

      Amazing show. The bass was so low it shook the peachfuzz hair on the back of my neck, and I did notice my chest feeling a little odd.

      --
      vk.
    3. Re:haven't had problem breathing... by Nimey · · Score: 1

      Ridiculous is spelled "ridiculous", mmmkay?

      --
      Hail Eris, full of mischief...

      E pluribus sanguinem
    4. Re:haven't had problem breathing... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Nowhere but on Slashdot have I seen this word spelled "rediculous". And today, alone, I've seen it in about 4 different threads.

      Is it an inside joke?

      Or does Slashdot itself somehow contribute to spreading this particular misspelling, like some kind of meme?

    5. Re:haven't had problem breathing... by Guignol · · Score: 1

      An inside joke ?
      don't be rediculous !

  8. extreme pressure changes by gl4ss · · Score: 0

    may cause severe health problems.

    news at.. nine.

    though, this is certainly 'new' on one level, not so on other.

    (you want to simulate an explosion at the maximum accuracy? i'd rather not)

    --
    world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
  9. I loved this quote by docbombay · · Score: 5, Funny

    "But so-called primary spontaneous pneumothorax happens in the absence of an underlying disease, typically striking tall, thin, male smokers." So with enough bass, you could wipe out half the kids at any emo concert.

  10. Not a gradual effect by Pi_0's+don't+shower · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Sound is just a pressure wave through the medium of choice -- in this case air. It seems totally obvious in hindsight that in addition to affecting your ear canals, loud sounds can affect your lungs, especially when you're standing with your face by the source of the air compressions. It's no surprise that sound waves have been used to probe all sorts of cavities, everything from ultrasounds in pregnant women to determining the extent of underground caves. A big sound wave in a small cavity can cause damage -- I wonder why no one thought to apply that reasoning to lungs before? Maybe because the pulmonary cavities are so large compared to, say, the ear? As an aside, this article talks about the brighter side of sound, that using sound waves at just the right frequency can fight cancer.

  11. ahh, but the question is... by teridon · · Score: 1

    What is the resonant frequency (or range of frequencies) which causes the pneumothorax?

    Hey, I see a new weapon on the horizon ;-)

    --
    I hold it, that a little rebellion, now and then, is a good thing. -- Thomas Jefferson
    1. Re:ahh, but the question is... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      Someone beat you to it
      For the moment, though, HSS is unfinished business. As night must follow
      day, there are Defense Department applications. Norris and A.T.C. have
      been busy honing something called High Intensity Directed Acoustics
      (HIDA, in house jargon). It is directional sound -- an offshoot of HSS --
      but one that never, ever transmits Handel or waterfall sounds. Although
      the technology thus far has been routinely referred to as a <b>"nonlethal
      weapon,"</b> the Pentagon now prefers to stress the friendlier-sounding
      "hailing intruders" function.

      In reality, HIDA is both warning and weapon. If used from a battleship,
      it can ward off stray crafts at 500 yards with a pinpointed verbal
      warning. Should the offending vessel continue to within 200 yards, the
      stern warnings are replaced by 120-decibel sounds that are as physically
      disabling as shrapnel. <b>Certain noises, projected at the right pitch, can
      incapacitate even a stone-deaf terrorist; the bones in your head are
      brutalized by a tone's full effect whether you're clutching the sides of
      your skull in agony or not.
      </b>
      "Besides," Norris says, laughing darkly, "grabbing your ears is as good
      as a pair of handcuffs."

      Nimbly holding a big black plate, Norris stands with me in an A.T.C.
      sound chamber. Since he's poised behind the weapon, he will hear no
      sound once it's powered up: not a peep. <b>"HIDA can instantaneously cause
      loss of equilibrium, vomiting, migraines -- really, we can pretty much
      pick our ailment," he says brightly. "We've delivered a couple dozen
      units so far, but will have a lot more out by June. They're talking
      millions!"</b>

      (Last month, A.T.C. cut a five-year, multimillion-dollar licensing
      agreement with General Dynamics, one of the giants of the military-
      industrial complex.)

      Norris prods his assistant to locate the baby noise on a laptop, then
      aims the device at me. At first, the noise is dreadful -- just primally
      wrong -- but not unbearable. I repeatedly tell Norris to crank it up
      (trying to approximate battle-strength volume, without the nausea),
      until the noise isn't so much a noise as an assault on my nervous
      system. I nearly fall down and, for some reason, my eyes hurt. When
      I bravely ask how high they'd turned the dial, Norris laughs
      uproariously. "That was nothing!" he bellows.

      "That was about 1 percent of what an enemy would get. One percent!"
      Two hours later, I can still feel the ache in the back of my head.
    2. Re:ahh, but the question is... by smithmc · · Score: 1

      What is the resonant frequency (or range of frequencies) which causes the pneumothorax?

      It's just about the same frequency as the much-fabled "Brown Noise", AIUI...

      --
      Downmodding is the refuge of the weak. Don't downmod, make a better argument!
  12. Darwinism. by bergeron76 · · Score: 4, Funny


    Pure and Simple.

    --
    Don't think that a small group of dedicated individuals can't change the world. It's the only thing that ever has.
    1. Re:Darwinism. by Halfbaked+Plan · · Score: 1

      Still, nothing wrong with helping Darwin along some.

      Hey dudes! Go stand by the speaker. It's cool!

      (that chick over there looks like she'd be impressed if you did it)

      --
      resigned
  13. Remember this by databoing · · Score: 1

    The next time you go to a Disaster Area concert, make sure you have your concrete bunker mapped out ahead of time. You can't just go out to find out where the commode is when the music is playing from 2 planets away!

  14. Weaponry by The+Meeper · · Score: 1

    Is there really any way to harness this to make weaponry? Although this particular case only affects people who are generally unhealthy in the first place, how difficult would it really be to use the pressure change to collapse lungs/implode heads/explode entire chest cavities?

    --
    -Meeper
    1. Re:Weaponry by Kumkwat · · Score: 1



      Already done, westwood had Sonic tanks in Dune!

    2. Re:Weaponry by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "Is there really any way to harness this to make weaponry?"

      I am bass player: FEAR MY WRATH! (actually, some bass players are known to be lethal to listen to...)

      "Although this particular case only affects people who are generally unhealthy in the first place..."

      So the surprise here is that more musicians (many of whom are ectomorphs and smoke like chimneys) don't suffer from this.

      "...how difficult would it really be to use the pressure change to collapse lungs/implode heads/explode entire chest cavities?"

      The problem is an efficient transducer: existing loudspeakers are less than 5% efficient (that is, less than 5% of the power going into a speaker is actually converted into sound), so either you would need subwoofer arrays driven by megawatts but still smaller than one wavelength (otherwise the sound from one side of the array will cancel out sound from the other side, diffracting the sound field), or you can design a new transducer (the permag loudspeaker is 90 years old; we still don't have anything better!).

      But even then, you would still need to transport the weapon: can you imagine a cross between Regular Army and a stage hand? Nothing frightens me more than the idea of a rider-raider-roadie who is trained to kill...

      Frankly, an acoustic pulse capable of imploding heads is most efficiently generated by chemical means (or in other words, a good, old fashioned bomb).

  15. Factories? by eingram · · Score: 1

    What about people who work in loud factories? Maybe the ones that are loud enough to warrant some kind of earplugs? Also, The lungs may essentially start to vibrate in the same frequency as the bass, which could cause a lung to rupture. So can we find out what the natural frequency is of human lungs and maybe keep things (speakers) from emitting anything in that frequency to keep the lungs from resonating and then collapsing (like the Tacoma Narrows Bridge)? Or do the lungs just pickup whatever frequency and go with it?

    1. Re:Factories? by man_ls · · Score: 1

      Soft, spongey, squishy structures probably don't have a resonance frequency; if anything, they'd dampen vibrations.

      I think, IIRC, only rigid structures can resonate.

  16. Figures by Transcendent · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I used to sit in the back of my friend's cougar that has dual 12in 600W kickers (if I'm remembering correctly)... and I used to kinda joke about how it affected my breathing when I was back there...

    ...heh, well, I guess ignorance is bliss.

  17. Pneumothorax by radiashun · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I had pneumothorax back in February, but it wasn't sound related. I was in the shower and for no apparent reason I felt as though someone had hit me in the chest with a sledgehammer. I thought it was a heart attack at first, but since I was only 21 I ruled that out as unlikely.

    I waited 3 days before I actually went to the hospital and those were the most agonizing days of my life. I'd run out of breath walking from my apartment to my car (literally, 10 feet). I just had this sharp stabbing pain in the left side of my chest. When I went to the hospital the doctor told me that it was rare spontaneous pneumothorax, and that it usually happened to tall, scrawny males that were smokers (I'm not a smoker). Anyways, 5 hours later I left the hospital with a tube coming out of my chest and a prescription for some Darvocet. I had to keep that tube in my chest to relieve the pressure that was preventing my lung from inflating for 3 days.

    It was really interesting to look at my chest x-rays though. My left lung had completely collapsed! It's never a good thing when doctors are telling everyone that's walking by the computer screen to "Check out how collapsed this lung is!"

    Anyway, I just wanted to give some first hand experience.

    1. Re:Pneumothorax by Fish_460 · · Score: 1

      I too had a spontaneous pneumothorax last November; very strange experience. I'm relatively skinny (~88kg, 192cm tall) 25yo, non-smoker though. I also have a crankin car sound system, so the article makes a bit of sense...
      At the time, the doc offered no reason for it to happen, "it just does".

    2. Re:Pneumothorax by Idarubicin · · Score: 4, Insightful
      I waited 3 days before I actually went to the hospital...

      In medicine, these are the words that cause more morbidity and mortality....

      Please, everyone--do yourselves a favour. If you're in such pain that walking ten feet leaves you short of breath, consult a physician. Even if you're apparently young and healthy, it could be a heart attack, or something equally nasty. Millions of years of evolution have given you a sense of pain for a reason. Listen to it--things don't hurt just because God is a sadist.

      Chest pain is one of those things that can really challenge a physician because there are so many potential underlying causes, with widely varying degrees of severity. Sources of symptoms that may be confused with pneumothorax include, "costochondritis, esophageal origin, myocardial infarction or ischemia, pericarditis, pleurisy, pneumonia, and pulmonary embolus." Self-diagnosis is not recommended. :)

      Particularly for acute circulatory problems (heart attack, stroke) time is of the essence. We've got a lot of really powerful treatments that are rendered essentially useless if you wait several hours. By that time, the tissue you want to save is dead.

      --
      ~Idarubicin
    3. Re:Pneumothorax by Thag · · Score: 1

      Glad you're OK now!

      Jon Acheson

      --
      All opinions expressed herein are my own, and not those of my employers, who are appalled.
    4. Re:Pneumothorax by 7hrs4sec · · Score: 1
      I had a spontaneous Pneumothorax a few years back. Never knew what, exactly, caused it, but it was just one of those sharp pains in the rib (then shoulder, then chest) that didn't go away and I was smart enough to finally call an ambulance before passing out.

      Only after I was sitting in a hospital recovery room with a chest tube sucking my right lung back into place did the doctors tell me that it's commonly referred to as "the tall, skinny guy's disease" since it affects so many folks that are just that. Funny how they never use that to encourage you to finish what's on your plate, no?

      At the time, I was smoking a pack of Camels a day, living high on dot-com stress. Oh, and at 6'2", I topped the scales at a whopping 145lbs soaking wet.

      Now, I'm a comfortable non-smoking 200lbs, eating right and excercising regularly.

      While the doctors have ruled out my ever sky diving or scuba diving (the change in air pressure could cause a relapse), I haven't had any troubles in the last 6 years. And I can laugh at the funny comments about PTX in this thread.

      Of course, there's a 50% chance of it recurring. I'll be quicker to call the EMTs next time. And I'll keep the stereo a little quieter in the car.

  18. Hopefully . . . by base3 · · Score: 2, Funny

    . . . the punk boys with their $5,000 stereos in $800 cars will start dying from this in droves soon.

    --
    One CPU cycle wasted on digital restrictions management is ONE TOO MANY.
    1. Re:Hopefully . . . by Halfbaked+Plan · · Score: 1

      I've always fantasized about somehow cutting in on their signal and shaking the engine block off the frame with subsonics. Which isn't realistic at all.

      But this sounds pretty good.

      --
      resigned
  19. How to repair a Collapsed Lung by cyranoVR · · Score: 3, Informative

    In short, the repairs hurt MUCH more than the injury.

    First they make a small incision and spread the ribs apart. Then take a blunt probe and S L O W L Y punch through the lining inside your chest cavity (pericadium?). No scapel allowed - it might damage delicate tissue.

    Suffice to say, right before they performed the procedure (the tube insertion, to be exact), the doctor encouraged me to scream as loudly as I wanted (they didn't put me under because anaesthesia is too dangerous for this type of "minor" procedure).

    The aftermath is that for a couple days you have a rubber hose coming out of your side that slowly sucks air out, thus re-inflating your lung. Not a lot of fun.

    Moral of the Story: Turn down that music you darn kids! :P

    1. Re:How to repair a Collapsed Lung by cujo_1111 · · Score: 1

      Have you ever had a gastro-nasal tube inserted or removed while not under anaesthesia?

      How does it compare to that?

      The most extreme pain I have ever experienced was due to me skipping some pain killers after having a RPLND (Retro-Peritoneal Lymph Node Dissection). Lovely operation that, having the muscle layers in your stomach cut and waiting for them to repair isn't fun.

      --
      If I point out that you are incorrect, making me a foe does not make you any more correct.
    2. Re:How to repair a Collapsed Lung by Fnkmaster · · Score: 1
      NG tube removal is bad, but not THAT bad (hopefully you got to have a few hits of morphine, fentanyl or some other opiate before they yanked it). My mother had an NG tube inserted once sans anesthesia (to relieve acute pressure from an intestinal blockage) - that was very painful. However, she has also had interventional radiology procedures similar to this, where they inserted tubes to drain an infected abscess in her liver with only mild painkiller, no anesthesia. By her account, having a large tube poked into your body cavity slowly (over the course of about half an hour to make sure it's positioned correctly), and then having it done 2 or three times in a row for each abscess, was far more painful than the NG tube incident.


      Though memory does weird things to pain - sometimes it's hard to accurately compare painful incidents separated in time by several years.

    3. Re:How to repair a Collapsed Lung by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      He he - must have some proper bass. Anyone know where they got their speakers? :-)

      Dr.D

  20. And this is suprise to anyone? by LouCifer · · Score: 0

    I mean, c'mon. Anyone whose ever been in a vehicle with a correctly-installed high-wattage custom sound system could've told them this.

    Ever feel the air pressure when you're in a car with one of these? Ever notice how you can literally feel the air sucked out of your lungs?

    ..and what the article doesn't go into is the fact that these guys were at a Poison reunion concert and were actually attempting to commit suicide.

    --
    Religion is for people afraid of going to hell.
  21. Darwin at work by Libertarian_Geek · · Score: 1

    Sounds like natural selection to me. Guess to the "victim" it sounds like... Thump Thump Bang RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNNNNNGGGG GGGGGGGGGGGGGG cough cough cough dead.

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  22. Heart by Libertarian_Geek · · Score: 1

    I had heard that 10hz (not sure if that's right, it's awful low) at the proper (rather improper) volume could send your heart into arrhythmia. Can anyone back this up? What about Cartman's "Brown noise" =)

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  23. Brown noise by HBI · · Score: 1

    I usually get a bit of that out of my rectum each morning.

    --
    HBI's Law: Frequency of calling others Nazis is directly correlated with the likelihood of the accuser being Communist.