# Man Nearly Explodes After Compressed Air Valve Lodges In Buttocks **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 26, 2011, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-nearly-explodes-after-compressed-air-valve-lodges-in-buttocks/583284 "2011-05-26T13:38:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2011, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-nearly-explodes-after-compressed-air-valve-lodges-in-buttocks/583284/21 "2011-05-26T18:00:20Z")
The story is full of holes. I don’t think it’s real. First of all, that amount of air in the subcutaneous space would cause serious damage to the skin, probably even sloughing, causing him to have months of treatment for burn-like injury. Also, air under the skin doesn’t get “burped or farted,” it wasn’t in the GI tract. It can take weeks for sub-q air to disipate. Subcutaneous air is called crepitus, named for the sound it makes when touched. It sounds like bubble wrap being popped. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2011, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-nearly-explodes-after-compressed-air-valve-lodges-in-buttocks/583284/22 "2011-05-26T18:00:39Z")
Darwin Award honorable mention. ---
**Author:** ![VunderBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/839c29/32.png) [@VunderBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VunderBob)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2011, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-nearly-explodes-after-compressed-air-valve-lodges-in-buttocks/583284/24 "2011-05-26T18:12:28Z")
> [@picunurse](#): > > Subcutaneous air is called crepitus, named for the sound it makes when touched. It sounds like bubble wrap being popped. :dubious: It’s called emphysema. Crepitus is the grinding of bones, either at an arthritic joint, or at the site of a break. ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2011, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-nearly-explodes-after-compressed-air-valve-lodges-in-buttocks/583284/25 "2011-05-26T18:13:44Z")
> [@Mtgman](#): > > This wasn’t a case of accidental inflation during attempted gratification. It happened in public, in daylight, with the guy’s boss and co-worker around. He fell off a tractor he was working on at a gas station and the valve from the air tank broke under him when he fell and punched into his body, using a previously non-existent entry point. The line coming out of the tank then bent like a fishhook, preventing easy removal. They had to find the tank and shut it off. Then the poor bastard had to wait over an hour for the paramedics and over three days in the hospital before the air levels inside his body returned to normal. > > I know the story raises some eyebrows due to similarities to self-inflicted injuries sustained during sexual situations, but this was a true accident and it sounds like it was horrific. Some black humor, sure, but this guy wasn’t your garden variety pervert. Ripping him a new one would be blowing this all out of proportion. > > Enjoy, > Steven This post wins the internet. Best set-up to a pun ever! ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2011, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-nearly-explodes-after-compressed-air-valve-lodges-in-buttocks/583284/26 "2011-05-26T18:38:58Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > Is it evil of me to be curious as to what exactly that looked like? Yes. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2011, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-nearly-explodes-after-compressed-air-valve-lodges-in-buttocks/583284/27 "2011-05-26T18:54:57Z")
> [@VunderBob](#): > > :dubious: It’s called emphysema. Crepitus is the grinding of bones, either at an arthritic joint, or at the site of a break. Sorry, you’re partly right. But, sub-q emphysema causes [crepitus.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crepitus) See the last definition. Being a critical care nurse, I dealt more with lung and sub-q crepitus than bone. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2011, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-nearly-explodes-after-compressed-air-valve-lodges-in-buttocks/583284/28 "2011-05-26T19:02:41Z")
> [@Mtgman](#): > > …and over three days in the hospital before the air levels inside his body returned to normal. Well, sure. If they just yanked the hose out, he’d fly around the room and hurt himself or a nurse! ---
**Author:** ![Death\_of\_Rats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a6a055/32.png) [@Death\_of\_Rats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Death_of_Rats)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2011, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-nearly-explodes-after-compressed-air-valve-lodges-in-buttocks/583284/29 "2011-05-26T19:03:49Z")
> [@picunurse](#): > > The story is full of holes. I don’t think it’s real. First of all, that amount of air in the subcutaneous space would cause serious damage to the skin, probably even sloughing, causing him to have months of treatment for burn-like injury. > Also, air under the skin doesn’t get “burped or farted,” it wasn’t in the GI tract. It can take weeks for sub-q air to disipate. > > Subcutaneous air is called crepitus, named for the sound it makes when touched. It sounds like bubble wrap being popped. … … ewww ---
**Author:** ![Jenaroph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@Jenaroph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jenaroph)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2011, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-nearly-explodes-after-compressed-air-valve-lodges-in-buttocks/583284/30 "2011-05-26T19:14:09Z")
> [@picunurse](#): > > The story is full of holes. I don’t think it’s real. First of all, that amount of air in the subcutaneous space would cause serious damage to the skin, probably even sloughing, causing him to have months of treatment for burn-like injury. > Also, air under the skin doesn’t get “burped or farted,” it wasn’t in the GI tract. It can take weeks for sub-q air to disipate. These are two things that are keeping me from buying it as well. Also, could air injected subcutaneously in the buttocks end up filling his abdominal and thoracic cavities? I’m picturing ruptured membranes everywhere. Also, the idea that they let the gas dissipate naturally - in laparoscopic abdominal surgery, they inflate the abdomen so they have room to work and then deflate it afterwards. Seems like a large bore hollow needle could have relieved the pressure . Plus, how big a tank are we talking about? If “half the contents” inflated him to only “twice his size” then I may be wrong but that doesn’t sound like a very big compressed air tank for a gas station. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2011, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-nearly-explodes-after-compressed-air-valve-lodges-in-buttocks/583284/31 "2011-05-26T19:39:48Z")
It was an air tank on a _truck_, not for a gas station. You can separate skin from the underlying tissue and have the skin survive - that’s a longstanding face lift technique. Of course, the skin can also die, and the larger the area of skin you’re talking about the more likely there will be problems. I suspect some of this is facts mangled by journalists, but it’s not the only freakish workplace accident I’ve heard of. ---
**Author:** ![Jenaroph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@Jenaroph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jenaroph)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2011, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-nearly-explodes-after-compressed-air-valve-lodges-in-buttocks/583284/32 "2011-05-26T19:59:13Z")
I suppose it could have been a tank on a truck, sizewise that would make more sense, but the article is not clear either way. All it says is he was working on his tractor trailer at a gas station and fell on a nozzle. It still doesn’t negate the fact that subcutaneous air isn’t burped or farted out, and that part is purportedly a direct quote from him, not a fact the reporters might mangle. The story as reported is still damned fishy. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2011, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-nearly-explodes-after-compressed-air-valve-lodges-in-buttocks/583284/33 "2011-05-26T20:17:16Z")
> [@Jenaroph](#): > > I suppose it could have been a tank on a truck, sizewise that would make more sense, but the article is not clear either way. _This_ article isn’t clear - it’s been carried by several media outlets and some reports are more detail than others. He was working on his truck, fell, and busted the airhose attachment by landing on it. ---
**Author:** ![Encinitas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@Encinitas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Encinitas)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2011, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-nearly-explodes-after-compressed-air-valve-lodges-in-buttocks/583284/34 "2011-05-26T20:50:27Z")
Those wacky New Zealanders always coming up with new sports. First Bungee Jumping now Buttocks Inflating. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2011, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-nearly-explodes-after-compressed-air-valve-lodges-in-buttocks/583284/35 "2011-05-26T20:55:48Z")
I dunno. Sounds to me like he’s gonna get all puffed up over his 15 minutes of fame. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2011, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-nearly-explodes-after-compressed-air-valve-lodges-in-buttocks/583284/36 "2011-05-26T21:07:03Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > Is it evil of me to be curious as to what exactly that looked like? Basically [this](http://cdn.weinterrupt.com/wp-content/uploads/sumo_suit_centre_500_93429.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2011, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-nearly-explodes-after-compressed-air-valve-lodges-in-buttocks/583284/37 "2011-05-26T21:40:22Z")
I was looking for a serious answer, not a joke, but thanks anyway. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2011, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-nearly-explodes-after-compressed-air-valve-lodges-in-buttocks/583284/38 "2011-05-26T21:44:24Z")
FWIW - The article stated his fat separated from muscle compressing his lungs and heart. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2011, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-nearly-explodes-after-compressed-air-valve-lodges-in-buttocks/583284/39 "2011-05-26T22:07:33Z")
Didn’t James Bond kill a guy this way, once? ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2011, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-nearly-explodes-after-compressed-air-valve-lodges-in-buttocks/583284/40 "2011-05-26T23:34:18Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > Basically [this](http://cdn.weinterrupt.com/wp-content/uploads/sumo_suit_centre_500_93429.jpg). I was thinking more like [this](http://dingo.care2.com/pictures/greenliving/uploads/2011/01/violet-beauregarde-willy-wonka-1971.jpeg). 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2011, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-nearly-explodes-after-compressed-air-valve-lodges-in-buttocks/583284/41 "2011-05-27T00:32:38Z")
Well blow me down. That story’s a real gas. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-nearly-explodes-after-compressed-air-valve-lodges-in-buttocks/583284.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-nearly-explodes-after-compressed-air-valve-lodges-in-buttocks/583284.md?page=3)