Quit in Time for the New Year.
- Posted on: Dec 11 2014
Is this the year you will quit smoking? The holidays are a good time for soul searching and reflecting on the past year. Did you make goals that you didn’t quite accomplish? Well, that makes just about 100% of us. The good news is, you can still work on those goals in 2015.
Over the years we have all heard of the damaging effects that smoking can have on our lungs, heart and blood vessels. However, most people do not know what smoking does to their skin. Besides its other harmful effects, smoking causes skin nearly the same extreme problems that sunlight does. Scientists have found that smokers are almost five times more likely to have wrinkles than non-smokers.
Here is a list of reasons to quit smoking from Dr. Asarch :
- Smoking leads to the production of a large quantity of free radicals in your skin, damaging the supporting structures.
- A typical “smoker’s” face exhibits prominent wrinkles, gauntness, thin grayish color, and areas of orange, purple and red pigmentation.
- You can see cigarettes’ well-known aging effects even in your mid-to-late 20s.
- Nicotine in cigarette smoke cuts down on the skin’s oxygen supply by reducing blood flow.
- Smoking also reduces collagen, the substance that keeps your skin tight and smooth.
- Smokers tend to have more problems with wound healing after surgery and have more pronounced scarring.
- Smoking also increases the risk of developing skin cancers, especially squamous-cell carcinomas.
If you smoke, STOP! If you don’t smoke, DON’T START!
Here are some helpful links if you are trying to quit:
Guide to Quitting Smoking – American Cancer Society
Posted in: Blog Post