r/whatisit • u/AmoebaSuccessful3393 • 6h ago

New, what is it? What are these little plastic things i have found in my sons room

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I have found a few of these little plastic things scattered around my 15 year old sons room, and was wondering what they are?

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u/gotuptooearly 5h ago

I wonder what actually causes them. I vaped nicotine for about 6 years that it took me to quit smoking/nic and I've been vaping weed since 2014ish. Doctors say they can't tell I ever smoked at all and my lungs look amazing now.

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u/throw7694728 5h ago

It says there's no known cause but tall, young and thin men/teenagers are at higher risk

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u/Obant 3h ago

Yessss for once being an old fat man has benefits.

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u/-Kerosun- 4h ago

Is that for the collapsed lung? Because yeah, tall, thin young men are at much higher risk of it spontaneously happening, but does that also apply to the "bleps"?

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u/throw7694728 3h ago

It applies to the bleps. Collapsed lung can be a result of the bleps, but I read that the bleps themselves are more prevalent in tall thin men.

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u/-Kerosun- 3h ago

Thanks!

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u/throw7694728 3h ago

Someone ask another question I like saying Blep

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u/gotuptooearly 5h ago

That's interesting. I'm a thin woman, but that's still a bit of a difference in body composition there.

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u/DanishDennis 5h ago

It happened to me, didn't vape but smoked prior. I think it happened because I did a huge jump on MTB the day before, and something might have popped. Doctor told me it basically only happens to men, and as the other user said, usually tall and skinny men.

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u/gotuptooearly 5h ago

That's so weird! Now that I'm reading more comments, I vaguely remember driving my younger sister to the hospital when she was in highschool to visit a friend who had something pop in his lungs 

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u/DanishDennis 5h ago

Yeah it's pretty common - the nurse that saw me was pretty much the expert in those kind of cases. I think the bad cases are just extremely rare. But collapsed lungs are like one of the most common bicycle injury it's actually insane.

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u/throw7694728 5h ago

It doesn't mean you can't get them but since you've quit vaping you're probably fine. I vape like a fiend and want to quit so bad, looking into this just made me want to quit even more

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u/gotuptooearly 5h ago

Idk from what other people are linking it seems like it's only men, and vaping causes complications with it and not the thing itself?

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u/throw7694728 5h ago

It's not only men, men are just at higher risk. The same way that women are at higher risk for breast cancer but men can still get it

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u/gotuptooearly 5h ago

Ok ok, unlikely. I don't think I'm getting it as a woman in her 40s lol. So for the comments at the start of this thread saying a blanket "vaping causes this thing" I don't think it does.

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u/Agitated-One4841 5h ago

My cousin had one years ago when she was about 17, so it definitely happens women. The doctor at the time told her it happens men more often because they tend to be taller. I'm almost certain she was told that it's not the being tall itself that does it, it's how quickly of a growth spurt you have in adolescence. 

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u/NobodyKnowsImFamous 4h ago

Wonder if it’s connective tissue related?

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u/throw7694728 4h ago

I read that yes, having connective tissue disorders can predispose you to bleps. If anyone else has more questions, I'm the Reddit research guy today

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u/_nananan 5h ago

This article says rapid growing when you’re a teen can cause them, and then the vaping can cause them to get punctured: https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/wellness-and-prevention/what-does-vaping-do-to-your-lungs

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u/TheCrazyWulf 4h ago

Just like how millions smoked at least a pack a day for 50+yrs and lived to be old...Then there are the poor fucks that never smoked in their lives who die from lung cancer at 30. The world is a weird place

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u/gotuptooearly 4h ago

Yeah, all of my grandparents and great grandparents were insane chainsmokers and lived into their 90s and died from unrelated causes so genetics is probably some kind of large factor too. Felt like I was pretty predisposed for smoking though, looking back haha.

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u/tisij 4h ago

my dad starting smoking when he was nine years old and finally quit in his 50s, but switched to vaping. he recently got his lungs checked out after my grandpa died from lung cancer and they found zero evidence that he had ever smoked a day in his life. lungs were perfectly healthy and showed no signs of damage, chronic or otherwise. the human body is weird and largely unpredictable it seems

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u/ExerciseOriginal9441 3h ago

There is this 99 year old who still smokes. So smoking and getting 99 years old must be related somehow.

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u/raideo 3h ago

Why are doctors looking at your lungs?

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u/Omnom_Omnath 3h ago

very big "i smoke a pack of cigs a day and didnt get cancer" energy

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u/gotuptooearly 3h ago

Ok, sorry? I've seen studies about vaping not causing long term damage, but I'm not out to prove anything. Just talking about my experience, which is why I said I wonder. Not "this happened to me so you're wrong."

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u/Omnom_Omnath 3h ago

lmao no such study exists. what you read was likely a puff piece paid for by the tobacco industry. Same folks who paid drs to say that cigs didnt cause cancer.

"Thank you for smoking" is a great book on it, and they made it into a movie if thats more your style