How Smoking Affects Your Looks?

Smoking changes the skin, hair and teeth in several ways. It adds years to your skin. It affects fertility. It affects the strength of your vital organs like heart, liver and kidneys.

Everyone knows that smoking affects the lungs drastically. It causes shortness of breath. Smokers are more likely to develop infections like pneumonia. It can also cause lung cancer.

Smoking thickens the lining of the arteries that supply blood to the heart. It also increases the blood pressure. Smoking also makes it easier for the blood to clot. All these factors collectively increase the risk of heart attack.

Men who smoke can have erectile dysfunction.

Women who smoke have problems conceiving. It increases the risk of miscarriage. If a woman smokes during pregnancy it increases her chances of delivering a premature or low birth weight baby.

Smoking increases the risk of oral cancer by 6times as compared to non-smokers. Chewing tobacco or products containing tobacco increase this risk by 50times.

The by-products of tobacco affect not only the internal organs but its effects are visible even on the appearances.

The skin below the eyes falls loose. It is a typical sign in chronic smokers. As one ages everyone gets wrinkles around the eyes. But these wrinkles are deeper and more visible in people who smoke.

Chronic smoking deprives the skin from oxygen and some essential nutrients. Therefore many a times the skin of people who smoke appears uneven in shade. Some smokers might have a pale skin. Smokers are more liekly to have a patchy skin.

In younger smokers the skin tone does not appear uneven. These changes are seen as time passes and smoking continues. The harmful chemicals in tobacco smoke trigger collagen and elastin destruction.

Passive smoking (exposure to second hand smoke) is also unhealthy for the skin. It degrades the skin texture.

Smoking does not harm the skin of the face alone. Its effects are seen on other body parts also. Eventually smoking leads to sagging of the skin. Body parts like inner arms and breasts that were once firm begin to sag.

Smokers have heavy and deeper wrinkles around the mouth. The skin around the mouth looses its elasticity since they use the muscles around the lips while smoking. Smokers are more susceptible to have a patchy skin.

Staining and yellowing of teeth are effects of long term smoking. People who smoke are more susceptible to have other dental problems too like gum diseases and bad breath.

Smoking also causes staining of the hands and finger nails. But these stains might fade once you quit smoking.

Smoking accelerates the thinning of the lining of the hair. Studies have linked a higher incidence of baldness among smokers.

Even the eyes are affected due to the smoke. It increases the chances of acquiring cataract.

Smoking causes the bones to become brittle. This increases the chances of osteoporosis.

Thus smoking affects the body in several ways. One should undertake steps to quit smoking to stay fit and healthy.