how did tj watt's lung collapse

T.J. Watt’s lung partially collapsed after a dry needling treatment at the Pittsburgh Steelers’ facility that apparently punctured or irritated the lung, leading to what doctors described as a partially collapsed or punctured lung that then required surgery to stabilize and repair it.

What actually happened

Reports from December 2025 say that Watt went into the Steelers’ facility on an off day for training and treatment, including a session of dry needling, a common therapy where very thin needles are inserted into muscle trigger points to relieve pain and tightness. During or after that session he began feeling chest and lung discomfort, and team staff sent him to a local hospital, where scans revealed a partially collapsed lung (often called a pneumothorax) that doctors linked to the needling session.

How dry needling caused it

• Dry needling uses fine needles that go into muscle tissue near nerves and sometimes close to the rib cage.

• In rare cases, if a needle goes too deep between the ribs, it can puncture the pleura (the lining around the lung) and let air leak into the chest cavity, which can partially collapse the lung.

• Coverage around the incident repeatedly notes that Watt’s partially collapsed, or “punctured,” lung was believed to be the result of exactly this kind of complication from the treatment session.

How serious it was and recovery

Watt underwent surgery to repair and stabilize the lung, stayed in the hospital for observation, and was then discharged with an uncertain but optimistic timeline for returning to play. His family and the team emphasized that he was expected to recover, but he was ruled out of at least the following game while doctors monitored healing and lung function.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.