Nose rings are a great accessory to amp up any look but they’re also apparently extremely dangerous. One man was shocked to find out that a nose piercing he lost five years ago actually ended up in one of his lungs.
Joey Lykins, who’s no stranger to piercings, woke up in the middle of the night with a horrible cough. Feeling like there was something blocking his airways, he visited the hospital for an examination the next day.
The X-ray revealed an unusual spot in the upper lobe of his left lung. When the doctor showed Lykins the scan, he immediately knew what the object was that was twisted in his lung. “The doctor came in and showed me the X-ray picture and said, ‘Does this look familiar?’ I was like, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me! I’ve been looking for that.'” Lykins said.
Around five years ago, Lykins had woken up one day without his septum ring. Having the piercing for four years, he had never lost it before, which made the situation strange. Lykins looked for the piercing everywhere but gave up and just bought another septum ring instead.
Clearly, at one point during the night, Lykins must have swallowed the ring, which eventually traveled down his windpipe and got lodged in his left lung. “I don’t know if it could have caused damage but it was wrapped up in scar tissue so it didn’t look like it was going anywhere,” Lykins said.
Lykins was scheduled for emergency surgery where doctors performed a bronchoscopy to retrieve the piercing. Now the Lykins and his piercing have finally been reunited after five long years of being apart.
Source: https://nypost.com/2022/09/16/i-lost-my-nose-ring-for-5-years-and-found-it-in-my-lung/