Ask the Doctor: Can Dechoker Collapse a Lung?

"Dechoker will not cause a collapsed lung.  A collapsed lung occurs when air is outside the lung but inside the chest wall, in the area called the pleural space.  Overaggressive suctioning of air out of the lung will not cause air to end up in the pleural space.  A collapsed lung, or pneumothorax, tends to occur in the setting of a diseased lung, such as lung cancer, pneumonia, rupture of a small bleb etc, or can occur from chest injury allowing air to penetrate the chest wall such as car accident with chest injury or other penetrating wound."