LIFESTYLE
The Negative Skin Effects That Will Finally Get You To Stop Smoking
By LAURA BOJAMAA
Slower Wound Healing
If you’re a heavy smoker, cuts, scratches, and other minor injuries can take longer to heal. This is because cigarettes disrupt your immune system, and as a result, wounds heal much more slowly, which can lead to bacteria coming into contact with the wound and causing infection.
Mouth Wrinkles
Smoking tends to create vertical wrinkles around the mouth that are due to a decrease in collagen and hyaluronic acid. Collagen is vital for plump, smooth, skin, and since smoking decreases its production, smokers tend to have more wrinkles at an earlier age than non-smokers.
Skin Cancer
Smoking can increase the risk of skin cancer since the chemicals in cigarettes affect the DNA that protects you from cancer. In addition, because smoking can decrease your immune system’s ability to fight infections, smokers have worse chances of recovering from melanoma.
Psoriasis
As the NHS explains, psoriasis causes an overproduction of skin cells in the body, and smoking can accelerate this process even more. Quitting smoking reduces the inflammatory activity of the body and decreases the risk of developing future cardiovascular complications like heart attacks, hypertension, and diabetes.
Uneven Complexion
When you smoke, “red blood cells have a hard time getting oxygen to the outer layers of the skin, which results in a pale, dull, grayish complexion.” After you stop smoking, your face will look fresher, your skin will be more even-toned, and you will regain glowing, brighter skin after only a few days.