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!"

Comments

Not a gradual effect

[Pi_0's don't shower]

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.

Re:Loud

[Jerf]

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...)

Re:Loud

[djsmiley]

"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 =)

Re:Pneumothorax

[Idarubicin]

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.