Smoking gives you wrinkles
It’s a horrible thought that for many smokers that, as well as damaging the heart and your lungs, smoking can also be giving them wrinkles.
It is well known that smoking causes the blood vessels in the outermost layers of skin to contract, thus impeding the natural flow of blood to the skin, and not allowing oxygen and nutrients to get to it. This causes the skin to lose its normal healthy glow, and to develop an “ashen” appearance.
Also, the nicotine from cigarettes damages collagen and elastin, which are the connective tissues that give skin its natural elasticity and strength. So with these effects, the skin of the smoker starts to sag and wrinkle prematurely.
Another effect on the skin is caused directly by the actions of smoking – the pursing of the lips, and the squinting of the eyes - these repetitive actions crease the skin, also leading to wrinkles.
It now seems to be well-established that people who smoke develop wrinkles at an earlier age than their non-smoking counterparts.
It has been found that while many hardened smokers have become habituated to warnings about their heart, lungs and general health, the thought of developing wrinkles makes them think again, and in some ways, has a more powerful effect than warnings related to other aspects of health. It seems that for many smokers in their teens and twenties, the thought of quickly developing unattractive and unromantic wrinkles is a more worrying thought than that of developing severe health problems in middle age, therefore it could be that this knowledge will deter young, image conscious people from smoking.
Filed under: Young people, General, Health Effects
