The effect of smoking on facial skin (English)

You can easily determine by appearance whether a person smokes or not. This habit is not only harmful to health, but also negatively affects the skin of the body and face of a person. Smoking and skin are closely related. Tobacco smoke takes away youth, freshness and beauty from women and men.

Symptoms

Every day the human skin endures severe stress. This is due to temperature changes, ecology, street dust, as well as poor nutrition and diseases of internal organs. When a person starts smoking, he must understand that nicotine can seriously harm health and skin.

In a smoker with little experience, you may notice the following changes:

flabbiness;
early aging;
the cover becomes dry, the access to oxygen and nutrients is blocked;
the outer layer of the epidermis is burned by smoke, which leads to clogging of the pores;
More and more acne, inflammation, and wrinkles appear on the face;
the double chin and bags under the eyes are visible.

Exposure to cigarettes negatively affects women's faces. They age much earlier than their peers.

The elasticity and firmness of the skin will be lost. Couperosis develops due to a lack of vitamin C. The negative effect on the skin has been proven by many scientists and examples from the lives of real people. Also, people who smoke are significantly different from their peers.

If a person smokes for several years, then every year the complexion deteriorates more and more. Early wrinkles and spots form. A smoker's appearance changes dramatically.

Scalp

Smoking not only has a bad effect on the skin of the face, but also on the hair and scalp. Nicotine reduces human immunity, slows blood circulation and negatively affects the general condition of the human body. The vessels that are responsible for the supply of nutrients to the skin, nails and hair experience a little stress.

All these reasons reduce immunity, which is why hair roots do not receive enough nutrients. As a result, the follicles fall asleep. Cigarette smoke makes the situation even worse. The hair is falling out, its color darkens, and the shine completely disappears.

To save the situation, the woman begins to use vitamin complexes, which do not give the desired result, because nicotine destroys all vitamins. They simply do not have time to be absorbed, which is why the hair deteriorates, the woman becomes nervous, the body suffers stress, which leads to even greater problems. The scalp changes and becomes dry, which leads to dandruff.

Possible diseases

The negative consequences of smoking will clearly manifest themselves. They depend on the duration of the habit, nutrition, human environment and many other reasons. However, sagging facial skin, wrinkles and acne are not all that can happen to a person. Due to a negative habit, more dangerous pathologies can develop.

Vincent's disease. The disease causes inflammation and death of the skin on the gums of a smoker.
Melanoma is a malignant tumor. It often occurs in people who smoke.
The disease can also affect other organs, which can be fatal.
Cancer of the lips and oral cavity. There are high chances that the disease will appear in people who smoke cigarettes.

The harm of smoking to facial skin is very strong. It is also worth remembering that nicotine spoils not only the appearance, but also the internal organs.

Help from cosmetologists

Smoking affects the skin of the face so much that it can be difficult to cope with the consequences at home. A person develops wrinkles, his face swells, and his eyelids begin to sag. In such cases, doctors recommend correcting the problems using a course of special procedures. They are aimed at improving blood circulation and smoothing wrinkles.

Many women undergo a procedure such as Botox injections. Recently it has become popular. A woman who smokes only needs to attend 3 procedures. It is worth understanding that after this it is undesirable to start smoking, otherwise everything that the woman does will not show the desired result and the procedure will need to be repeated.

In addition, a procedure such as microdermabrasion - mechanical peeling - has a positive effect on the face. Using the procedure, you can cleanse the skin. It will become smooth and a healthy glow will appear on your face. If women have bags under their eyes, experts recommend using professional cosmetics.

Quitting a bad habit

A person needs a strong desire and willpower to quit smoking. But then he will be able to live peacefully with a beautiful, healthy complexion and regret that he did not do this much earlier. The cover will not be restored as quickly as we would like; time, effort, patience and resources are needed.

First of all, you need to consult a cosmetologist. He will tell you what to do to restore your face and scalp. After quitting smoking, acne will go away on its own and the skin will begin to return to its normal color. She needs a little help with this. The skin of the body is cleansed of harmful substances that have been harmful and accumulated for a long time. To do this you need to use the following tools:

detox programs;
proper nutrition;
vitamin therapy.

If you turn to a cosmetologist for help in time, you can quickly correct all the consequences of smoking.

Home treatments

Cosmetologists will definitely help a person regain youth and beauty. But you can carry out several useful procedures without leaving your home. The process of restoring the scalp will not please you with quick results, so you need to be patient.

Skin scrubbing. This will help clear your head of the upper layers of the epidermis. Sugar, salt and buckwheat are used for the procedure. All products can be supplemented with fresh fruits, herbs and honey. The ingredients of your choice are crushed, rubbed into the head, hair and applied to the face.
After the scrub, you need to make a healthy mask from fresh ingredients. Sour cream, honey, bananas and eggs are suitable for this. The ingredients are mixed and rubbed into the scalp or applied to the face.
To moisturize, take oil, since it contains useful acids and vitamins.
You can also buy healthy clay, green or blue. It contains many useful substances and salts. A clay mask will restore color to the face and also make the skin elastic.
Rubbing in liquid vitamins F, A, E will help quickly and efficiently restore the skin, remove wrinkles and pimples. It is necessary to lubricate the skin every day. You can buy liquid vitamins at a pharmacy or cosmetics store.

Preventive procedures

The skin will be completely renewed after a person stops smoking. This will happen in 1.5 months. The duration of smoking greatly affects recovery. If it is small, then the cells will renew themselves quickly. In addition to cosmetic procedures, it is necessary to lead a healthy lifestyle, this will help bring the recovery process closer to completion. You also need to follow simple recommendations.

Wash your face properly in the morning. It is necessary to wash your face with herbal decoctions, cold water or mineral water. The skin will become elastic, color will improve and blood circulation will improve. You can also wipe your face with ice.
Use peeling products or scrubs once a week.
Eat right. Remove all unhealthy foods and replace them with fruits and vegetables.
Drink water 30 minutes before and after meals. This will moisturize the skin not only outside, but also inside.
Playing sports will improve blood circulation and toxins will come out faster.
Walk outside and ventilate the apartment.

Conclusion

Smoking is the main cause of many diseases. For many years, nicotine accumulates in the body and at one point can ruin a person’s health. In addition to internal diseases, smoking affects acne, wrinkles and skin color. If a person gives up a bad habit once and for all, he will not only be able to prolong his youth, but also live his life without serious illnesses.

Most people who smoke have heard about the harmful effects of cigarette smoke on the skin of the face. It's no secret that harmful substances contained in tobacco smoke negatively affect the facial skin of women and men. But what exactly is the effect of smoking on facial skin?

How smoking affects facial skin

The negative consequences of the habit of smoking appear quite quickly, only 1-2 years and the skin loses its usual glow and fresh appearance. Each person is individual, so the effects of smoking manifest themselves differently for each smoker. It is important to note that the process of skin withering from tobacco smoke largely depends on the number of cigarettes smoked per day, as well as on diet, hereditary skin problems and other bad habits.

Harm of smoking on the external skin of the face

What harm does tobacco smoke cause? The main harm that cigarettes cause to the skin is the direct effect of hot tobacco smoke, which processes and burns the outside. Also, smoke penetrates the skin, and with it all the synthetic toxins contained in cigarettes. Such an aggressive effect leads to the fact that the cover becomes dehydrated and loses its freshness.

Moreover, all parts of the body of people who smoke (including the face and hands) are subject to constant exposure to smoke, which over time turns the skin tone into a “sick” color (from yellow to brown). This process is due to the fact that cigarettes contain different tars.

Harm from within

People who smoke engage in self-destruction at the genetic level. How does this happen?

The fact is that cigarettes contain harmful substances that enter the blood, after which they activate a “special” gene, which ensures the production of an “aggressive” substance that destroys the essential protein collagen. Collagen is an essential protein that is responsible for the beauty, elasticity, health and strength of human skin.

To slow down the breakdown of collagen and skin, smokers should consume more vitamin C and E. These essential vitamins help maintain normal levels of collagen protein.

Negative effects of smoking on the skin:

As a result of such strong exposure to harmful substances, smokers quickly develop wrinkles around the lips and eyes. Those wrinkles that appear near the lips are almost impossible to remove either with cosmetics or even after giving up cigarettes.
People who smoke experience such an unpleasant symptom as narrowing of blood vessels. This includes high blood pressure.
Small vessels or capillaries, under the influence of nicotine, narrow and cannot pass a normal amount of blood. As a result, all healthy regeneration processes slow down.
Carbon monoxide, which is contained in tobacco smoke, reduces the level of oxygen in the blood, which in turn makes it difficult to saturate the skin with oxygen and leads to disease. Just 1 cigarette “paralyzes” the functioning of the vascular system for 1.5 hours, the oxygen supply is minimal.
Decreased regeneration causes wounds to heal more slowly in smokers than in non-smokers. Nowadays, plastic surgeons are increasingly paying attention to smoking patients and warning them about negative postoperative consequences due to their bad habit. This is due to the fact that in patients who smoke, the risk of skin rejection is 13 times higher than in those who do not smoke.
People who smoke are increasingly experiencing clogged pores and sagging skin - all this leads to premature aging of the skin.
Aggressive chemicals in cigarette smoke cause spider veins (rosacea) to appear on the face of both men and women.
In non-smokers, the skin ages 5 times slower than in smokers. People who smoke look much older than their non-smoking peers. Why does this happen, how does smoking affect facial skin so negatively? This is due to the accumulation of free radicals. Free radicals are complex chemical compounds and their residues that accumulate in cells and, over time, destroy healthy tissue. This process causes the skin of a smoker to age with each inhalation of cigarette smoke (free radicals accumulate in it).
According to cosmetologists, with prolonged accumulation of free radicals in skin cells, elastin is destroyed. Elastin is a protein that is responsible for healthy elasticity and normal elasticity of skin tissues (integuments). Also, harmful substances contained in tobacco smoke “wash out” vitamin C from the skin, which is responsible for the health and youth of the entire body, as well as for skin health. Thanks to vitamin C, the protein elastin is produced.

This is just a small list of how much smoking affects human skin.

Skin diseases from smoking

Skin aging is just one of the few problems faced by people who continue to smoke tobacco products.

Tobacco itself does not cause serious diseases of the human skin and mucous membranes, but is the cause of their development and severe course.

Diseases that worsen and develop on the skin from smoking:

Melanoma is a skin tumor that belongs to the group of malignant tumors. Most often, melanoma is caused by ultraviolet radiation. But in people who smoke, melanoma develops faster; this factor leads to the fact that the development of lip cancer in people who smoke is possible under the influence of ultraviolet radiation (sun, solarium, etc.).
Mucosal cancer is a terrible disease that is very difficult and can be treated normally only in isolated cases. Most often, cancer is fatal. People who smoke more than 2 packs of cigarettes per week have an 80% greater risk of developing mucosal cancer than those who do not smoke.
Vincent's disease is an inflammation of the skin of the gums (in severe cases, complete death). This disease occurs only in people who smoke, and the more cigarettes you smoke per day, the greater the risk of contracting this terrible disease.
Genital cancer – both men and women who smoke suffer from genital cancer (women have a higher risk of developing the disease).
Psoriasis is a skin disease that appears as dry, scaly red patches. The disease has several stages of development, psoriasis occurs not only on the skin, psoriasis can also spread to the nails of the hands and feet. People who smoke have a high risk of contracting this disease.

Reminder for smokers

You should remember the consequences that smoking causes to the body:

Smoking damages your skin every time you smoke a cigarette.
The skin recovers very slowly from damage caused by burning tobacco smoke.
Smoking increases the incidence of skin cancer
Quitting smoking, even with a long history of smoking, reduces the risk of developing and progressing serious diseases.
It is recovering, but this requires more than one week or more than one month.
Skin is only a tiny part of how your appearance deteriorates. Add to this yellow teeth, unpleasant smell of clothes and breath.

If you have a desire to quit a bad habit, but do not have the moral strength to do so, contact a specialist. People often put off visiting doctors, even with serious illnesses, and this is their main mistake. After all, doctors do not oblige you to anything, doctors will be able to help you fight a bad habit, but they will not treat you without your consent. In order to overcome addiction to nicotine, there are special doctors: psychiatrist, psychologist, psychotherapist.

The skin, like any other organ, suffers from the negative effects of cigarettes, so try to take full responsibility for your health.

If you experience the first signs of skin problems, give up cigarettes. It's not an easy journey to quit smoking, but it's worth it to stay healthy!

Tobacco addiction is a common bad habit with serious consequences for the body. It negatively affects a person’s health and takes away years of his life. A cocktail of tars, carcinogenic and mutagenic substances inhaled by a smoker every day causes serious damage not only to all organs and systems, but also to appearance. Those who inhale cigarette smoke look older than their peers, their faces and skin change. It becomes dry, begins to peel, and early becomes covered with a network of wrinkles.

The harmful effects of smoking on facial skin have been scientifically proven. There is even a special term in medicine, which was introduced in 1985 by Dr. Douglas Model. In his article for a British magazine, he described how the appearance of a person who abuses tobacco changes. He described the combination of these signs as “the face of a smoker.” Fortunately, these changes can be corrected, so with proper skin care and giving up bad habits, the first results will not take long to appear.

What effect does cigarette smoke have on the skin?

Attractive appearance is important for every person, especially women traditionally pay a lot of attention to it. Massages, masks, professional procedures in a cosmetologist’s office - all this is done in order to maintain a healthy complexion, freshness and elasticity of the skin. But not all women think about the fact that they are depriving themselves of attractiveness with their own hands when they once again take a pack of cigarettes out of their purse.

You can find out if a girl has this bad habit by carefully examining her face. Here is a list of the main signs by which “smoker’s face” is diagnosed:

Pronounced wrinkles, especially in the nasolabial triangle and around the eyes - “crow’s feet”;
The oval of the face changes, it looks tired and exhausted;
Bags and bruises under the eyes caused by impaired circulation of fluid in the tissues;
The skin of the face looks like parchment. It is very thin, dry, sensitive. Pigment spots may appear. The complexion is uneven, with a grayish, reddish or yellowish tint;
The skin is flabby and has sagging. A person who smokes looks much older than his peers who do not have such a bad habit;
The presence of vascular pathologies, for example, erythema (redness of the skin caused by a rush of blood to the capillaries) or rosacea.

Tobacco smoke contains more than 4,000 harmful toxic substances and compounds that affect the functioning of the entire body. The skin suffers the most because it affects it in two directions - external and internal.

External

The first test to which the epidermis is exposed is the temperature shock that occurs when smoke comes into contact with the skin. Under short-term exposure to heat, the capillaries expand and then sharply contract. Such temperature changes are harmful to the skin and over time can cause the appearance of unsightly spider veins. This cosmetic defect is called “rosacea”. Initially, it appears in the form of several visible vessels on the skin, and in severe form it can affect large areas of the skin with a red “web”.

In addition, during the smoking process, particles of tar and other harmful substances settle on the epidermis, which interfere with normal gas exchange. The skin does not breathe, and the film formed on it interferes with the natural cleansing process. This leads to the appearance of clogged pores, which, when a bacterial infection occurs, can become inflamed and turn into pimples.

The components of tobacco smoke cause the destruction of collagen, the protein responsible for skin elasticity. During the study, epidermal cells placed in a saline solution were exposed to cigarette smoke. This caused the activation of a specific gene in them, which began the production of an enzyme that destroys collagen fibers.

Internal

When nicotine enters the body, a narrowing of the capillaries occurs, through which nutrients are delivered to the epidermis along with the blood. Their deficiency negatively affects the condition of the skin: dullness appears, scratches and wounds take longer to heal than usual.

When inhaled, carbon monoxide molecules from cigarette smoke bind to hemoglobin, forming a persistent chemical compound called carboxyhemoglobin. It is unable to transport oxygen to skin cells, as a result of which they experience acute oxygen deficiency. Their functionality and ability to regenerate are impaired. Due to constant oxygen starvation, a smoker's skin looks pale and emaciated, its tone and elasticity decrease due to a slowdown in the synthesis of elastin and collagen.

There is an opinion in scientific circles that this bad habit accelerates the aging process much more than exposure to ultraviolet radiation. Long-term smoking causes a decrease in the production and content of vitamin A in the skin, which is called the “substance of youth and beauty.” It is responsible for the active division of new cells and protecting the epidermis from the destructive effects of free radicals. Due to its lack, the skin begins to age faster.

Smoking also affects the level of vitamin C in the body. This is an important antioxidant that helps counteract the negative effects of cigarettes. Nicotine partially destroys it, and smoking in general reduces its absorption. In addition to its protective function, ascorbic acid has the properties of stimulating the synthesis of collagen, the natural framework of the face.

The first signs of degenerative processes in the epidermis are:

dehydration of the upper layers of the skin;
tightness;
peeling;
flabbiness;
wrinkles around the eyes and mouth.

Tobacco addiction also causes changes in the structure of elastin, a connective tissue protein responsible for skin elasticity. It becomes denser and more fragmented than in non-smokers. The condition of elastin fibers in people suffering from tobacco addiction is similar to what happens with excessive sun exposure, or so-called photoaging.

Smoking is one of the contraindications for most cosmetic and plastic surgeries on the face. Due to disruption of regeneration processes, cellular respiration and blood supply, the risk of complications increases, and the rehabilitation period may be delayed.

The main problem with such operations is the likelihood of rejection and partial necrosis of skin flaps. For smokers it is on average 12 times higher than for non-smokers. This is influenced by the overall length of the bad habit and the number of cigarettes consumed per day. The higher it is, the higher the risk of complications.

How skin recovers after quitting smoking

Skin is the most sensitive and receptive organ to both external and internal influences. It reflects the state of the whole organism, especially the consequences of negative factors. When you quit smoking, the first positive changes occur in the epidermis.

Normalization of metabolic and regenerative processes in the skin begins within a few hours after quitting cigarettes and is characterized by the following changes:

After 12 hours, bronchospasm disappears, breathing normalizes, and more oxygen enters the body. This has a beneficial effect on the skin - the complexion becomes brighter, it begins to receive more nutrients along with the blood;
After a day, the concentration of carbon dioxide in it decreases, and the amount of transported oxygen continues to increase. The epidermis begins to actively recover, and the process of cleansing from accumulated toxins and poisons begins. This may cause a short-term deterioration in his condition. The skin becomes problematic, rashes appear on it in the form of pimples, which quickly disappear;
After 3-5 days, the detoxification process is almost complete. Cosmetic flaws no longer appear, and the condition of the dermis continues to gradually improve;
After four weeks, the complexion becomes uniform and the earthy tint disappears. By this time, significant improvements in the elasticity and firmness of the skin are already noticeable - fine wrinkles are smoothed out, and deeper ones become less pronounced;
Two months after quitting smoking, a healthy glow appears on your face. Tightness, dryness and associated peeling disappear. The skin becomes soft and smooth to the touch.

How to help your skin recover faster

In order to speed up the process of epithelial regeneration, it is necessary to exclude all factors unfavorable to its health, such as solar radiation, aggressive detergents and low indoor humidity. Professional procedures from a cosmetologist will also be an indispensable assistant in restoring the elasticity and softness of the skin. He will analyze its condition and choose the optimal solution.

Special care at home will also be effective if done correctly and regularly. It includes the following:

Regular use of scrubs or peels. These products will help you quickly get rid of dead cells, make your skin smooth and stimulate its renewal. Scrubs have an exfoliating effect due to abrasive particles in the composition. They can be of natural origin (ground apricot and grape seeds, crushed coffee beans) or synthetic (polyethylene balls). Peels contain predominantly fruit acids, which weaken the bonds between new and dead cells and promote their exfoliation naturally. Such products do not scratch the epidermis. They are able to lighten age spots and make the complexion more “lively” and brighter. Peels are suitable for sensitive and thin skin, and scrubs are suitable for thick and oily skin. They should be used 1-2 times a week, depending on the condition and needs of the dermis;

Moisturizing masks. Smoking causes dryness of the epidermis, so the lack of moisture must be replenished with the help of cosmetics. To do this, it is recommended to conduct a course of alginate masks (from 8 to 15 procedures, 1-2 masks per week). They nourish the skin, saturate it with moisture and nutrients. The basis of alginate masks is the extract of brown and red algae. It cleanses the epidermis of toxins accumulated in it, constricts blood vessels, eliminates redness and rosacea, and also has a lifting effect;
Serums with antioxidants and hyaluronic acid. They help restore the skin, fight free radicals that damage its healthy cells, and prevent premature aging.

In addition to using cosmetics, these recommendations will help you put your appearance in order:

You shouldn't go outside without sunscreen, even when it's cloudy. The skin of a smoker is more susceptible to the formation of age spots and sunburns than those who do not have a similar habit;
You need to drink enough liquid. Restoring water balance in the body will have a positive effect on your well-being and appearance. The liquid will help remove toxins and eliminate excessive dryness of the skin. You need to drink from 1.5 to 2 liters of pure still water per day;
Physical activity will help speed up your metabolism and increase blood circulation. Oxygenated blood will deliver nutrients to the epidermis, therefore the complexion and skin tone will improve;

Proper nutrition will cleanse the body of toxins, which will have a positive effect on your appearance. It is recommended to exclude simple carbohydrates from your diet, such as sugar, flour, confectionery, as well as fried and spicy foods. Preference should be given to fresh vegetables, fruits, lean meat and fish, and cereals.

Restoring facial skin after smoking is a long process, but the first lasting improvements will be noticeable within a couple of weeks. The shorter the experience of tobacco addiction, the easier it is to get rid of its negative consequences on the face.

Smoking and beauty and youthful skin are incompatible concepts. This is evidenced by numerous photographs “before and after” of acquiring this addiction. To maintain attractiveness and good health, you need to quit smoking as early as possible.

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The effect of smoking on facial skin (English)

The effect of smoking on facial skin