In this day and age it seems almost silly to remind people that smoking is killing them, killing their teeth, skin, lips, heart, lungs, and causing myriad other associated health complications. Don’t we all know this? I have never seen any research anywhere to the contrary. Yet people worldwide continue to smoke. It is shocking and distressing to see this behavior. Addiction or not, stopping smoking is indisputably a primary step in fighting aging and wrinkling.
Smoking is, at the very least, equal to, if not worse than the sun in the direct damage it causes to the skin’s surface. In actuality, it is probably even more insidious than sun exposure when it comes to damaging healthy skin. Not only does smoking cause serious free-radical damage and block the body’s ability to utilize oxygen, it also creates necrotic (dead) skin tissue that cannot be repaired. Even more unattractive is the breakdown of the elastic fibers of the skin (elastosis), which gives rise to yellow, irregularly thickened skin. At least sun provides some benefit such as vitamin D production and warmth! Smoking provides no benefit of any kind whatsoever.
Moreover, smoking causes a progressive cascade of damage inside the body (restricted blood flow, reduced capacity of the blood to take in oxygen, impairment to the body’s immune system) that eventually shows up on the surface of skin, making it look haggard and dull. It also creates serious deep wrinkling around the lips and lip area.
While smoking can make skin look prematurely wrinkled and aged, it’s unattractive for many other reasons as well, including the permeating smell of smoke on clothing, breath that smells like smoke, and yellow stains on hands, nails, and teeth. Smoking isn’t pretty and it can be deadly. Quitting smoking is one of the most healthful, beautiful things you can do for your skin and body.
(Sources: Journal of Dermatologic Science, December 2007, pages 169-175; Experimental Gerontology, March 2007, pages 160-165; Journal of Dermatological Science, March 2007, pages 169-175; Skin Pharmacology and Applied Skin Physiology, January-February 2002, pages 63-68; Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, July 1999, “Cigarette Smoking-Associated Elastotic Changes in the Skin,” and May 1996, “Cutaneous Manifestations and Consequences of Smoking”; and International Journal of Cosmetic Science, April 1999, pages 83-98.)