How long it takes for lungs to heal from vaping and exactly when it causes permanent damage
Britt Jones
Featured Image Credit: Getty Stock Image
The effect of vaping on the lungs has been revealed, and when it comes to serial vapers, they might feel some type of way about the data.
Hailed as the healthy alternative to smoking, vaping became popular years ago and has exploded among the younger generations.
Prior to disposables, fruity flavors, different devices and trends, vaping used to be exclusively known as e-cigarettes, and it was a long tube either made to look like a cigarette, or it was a transparent tube with tobacco-flavoured juice.
Now, there are so many different options to choose from, and vape stores are popping up on every corner.
Advert
However, with more people vaping, there has been an increase in the number of individuals who are taken to the hospital for vape-related illnesses.
Like one man who was given a serious wakeup call after vaping every ten seconds... Or this man, who vaped for nine years before his lung collapsed.
Another issue that has been rising is the popcorn lung issue, which sees people have scarred lungs that cannot be cured.
But if you don’t have popcorn lungs, you could actually be in a position where your lungs could heal from the vaping damage.
According to Rehab 4 Addiction, 'cells in the lung can regenerate, and studies show that the lungs demonstrate remarkable reparative capacity in response to illnesses or injury such as scarring or fibrosis'.
However, you could end up with irreversible damage depending on how severe your damage is, how much you smoked, and other factors like your genetics.
The timeline and how long it takes for lungs to heal will vary from person to person, but if you develop an e-cigarette or vaping-associated lung injury (EVALI), you won’t be able to cure it... and the damage would be permanent.
Symptoms of EVALI include shortness of breath, pain when breathing, and a cough.
If you have a serious case, your blood oxygen levels may drop, and it could potentially lead to death, though those cases are rare.
According to Doctor Andrew Freeman, who spoke with the University of Utah, the total outlook of what vaping does to us has not yet been recognised.
“Our lungs are not a good organ to absorb substances for recreational use,” Freeman said.
"They are an incredible organ, providing our bodies with vital oxygen and exchanging carbon dioxide, all while protecting us from infections and other harmful elements from our environment.
"We all begin to slowly lose lung function after about our early to mid-20s, and yet they must last us a lifetime.
"If people don’t take care of their lungs, they really suffer more difficulties breathing later in life due to habits such as vaping.”