Smoking is very harmful to your overall health. Nonsmokers that start to indulge in this bad habit can notice unpleasant changes on their skin health from the beginning. Some of them are short term and can be reversed after quitting, some of them are permanent and can even lead to harmful conditions. It has been proven repeatedly by science that smoking can affect the way you generally look, including apparent age, the appearing of wrinkles, bags under the eyes and much more.
Below is a list of the effects that smoke can have on your skin health.
Smoke from cigarettes directly damages the skin
When the smoke from a cigarette, even if it’s second hand, hits your skin, it starts drying it. This is due to the oxygen and nutrients that are neglected to the skin; the smoke acts as a curtain. This can make the skin look have a paler appearance, making it look even gray. It has also been determined that smoke also can narrow blood vessels on the skin, making difficult otherwise normal blood flow and worsening the effect on skin tone.
Additionally, Tobacco smoke has more than 4000 harmful chemicals, some of them can lead to the destruction of collagen and elastin, components that give your skin its elasticity and make it strong. With a smoking habit, you can expect to have more wrinkles and sagging skin and not only on your face!
Smoke makes you develop baggy eyes
The skin under your eyes is very thin and also vulnerable to smoke damage. The saggy skin under your hair develops the appearance of a scrawny bag and can add years to your apparent age. This can affect your personal relationships and make difficult to others to feel comfortable talking to you.
Smoke changes the color of your the skin and others parts of your body
Smoke from cigarettes is known to cause yellowish spots on facial skin and fingers. This also affects the teeth and not only colors them yellow, but it can also cause gum disease, chronic halitosis, and can double the chances of losing teeth. Smoke in cigarettes can also do a more permanent damage, causing age spots to appear quickly.
Smokers develop the smoker’s pucker
There is a certain noticeable characteristic in smoker’s mouths, the smoker’s pucker: those deep wrinkles around the mouth that are produced due to a combination of factors, such as the previously mentioned structural damage made to the skin and the repeated movement of stretching the mouth to hold a cigarette with it. These are not only dynamic wrinkles but also smoking wrinkles.
Smoking delays wound healing
Smoking is directly related to bad wound healing because it decreases synthesis of collagen and the migration of keratinocytes. As smoke also constricts the blood vessels, it restrings the reaching of oxygen to skin cells and even the growth of new blood vessels. This can be especially damaging to people who recently went under surgery and people with diabetes. It also increases the risk of infection.
Smoke triggers many types of cancer
This could not be avoided on the list. Smoking triggers many types of skin cancers. People who smokes regularly are most likely to develop squamous cell skin cancer, mostly on the lips.
Smoke can make you lose hair
As we all know, people lose hair as they get older, but smoke from cigarettes can exponentially accelerate that process. A recent study in Taiwan identified that men who smoke are more likely to suffer from pattern baldness. It is a risk factor, and the more you smoke, the faster you will lose hair.
These are just some of the many negative effects of smoke on your skin. There are much more on other parts of the body, not to mention its cancerous effects. But how can you avoid smoking if you have a nicotine habit? Are there alternatives similar to the use of tobacco products? There is a new vaping product, Tobacco e-juice that will satisfy your needs without the harm of tobacco smoke. Try it now, you will not regret it; it is also useful for people that want to quit nicotine altogether, being an easy to measure vaping product.
Carl Clay is a health blog author who has been writing about nutrition, fitness and healthy living for over 10 years. He also loves to run, hike and bike with her wife.