Recently a New York man underwent horrific injuries due to a seemingly harmless vaping session. The Albany native lost teeth, suffered burns on his mouth and hands, and was left with a gaping hole through the middle of his tongue after his e-cigarette's battery exploded without warning. Malfunctioning electronic cigarettes aren't new. But with growing media exposure, is it time to start asking whether this is a serious problem? While vaping—so far—appears safer than smoking traditional cigarettes, e-cigarettes do make use of lithium batteries, which have the potential to cause great physical harm when damaged. The problem usually arises when vapers mix and match e-cigarettes with different batteries; charging lithium batteries with the incorrect charger can be a recipe for disaster. If you use electronic cigarettes, the best way to avoid any nasty surprises is to always, always use the same batteries and charger that came with your device. One of the other common ways e-cigarettes can be damaged is when the device comes into contact with and rubs against coins in your pockets, which can destabilize the battery. Vaping might not be 100% safe in every situation—but neither is driving or walking down the street. If you do choose to vape, at least do it as safely as possible.

#vapesafety #vapinginjury