Smoking is the leading cause of cancer, according to the National Cancer Institute, but some adolescents and younger smokers may dismiss that concern, believing that cancer is far in the future. However, all smokers should know that smoking won't affect just your lungs and internal organs; it also can affect your face and skin. Smoking can leave you with a pallid look, wrinkles and sagging, robbing your face of your youthful look.
Lip Lines
The constant puckering motion that you make with your mouth as your smoke can leave you with deep lip lines, which extend vertically out from the mouth, carving age into your face. When you try to put lipstick, gloss or lip liner on your mouth, it can bleed into your lip lines and make you look older than you are. Expression lines are often the deepest of all wrinkles and some of the hardest to eradicate.
Premature Wrinkles
A study performed by the Department of Dermatology at Catholic University of Korea and published in the "International Journal of Dermatology" found that smokers experienced premature skin wrinkling. Even young smokers exhibited microscopic wrinkling that eventually results in deeper face lines. Smoking restricts the blood vessels in the face, resulting in poor circulation and drier skin, according to the American Academy of Family Physicians.
Skin Sagging
When you smoke, you restrict your skin's production of collagen in the face and skin. Collagen is a naturally occurring protein in the skin that keeps it firm, tight and wrinkle-free. Without collagen production, your skin begins to loosen and sag, giving you an older appearance. Sagging also promotes more wrinkles as it settles, so smoking becomes a double-edged sword for your face and youth.
Skin Color
Smoking restricts the flow of oxygen to your face. Oxygenated skin appears plump, rosy and healthy, while skin suffering from a lack of oxygen often will look dry, papery, thin and sallow, the American Academy of Dermatology notes. A smoker's skin often will take on a yellowish or grayish appearance over time due to the nicotine and chemicals robbing the skin of oxygen.
Hollow Cheeks
"The Daily Mail" reports that smokers can suffer from hollow cheeks on the face, likely due to the repeated motion of sucking their cheeks while smoking a cigarette. Hollow cheeks can give the impression of general unhealthiness and malnourishment.
References
- National Cancer Institute: Quitting Smoking - Why To Quit and How To Get Help
- "International Journal of Dermatology"; Cigarette Smoking Associated with Premature Facial Wrinkling; J.S. Koh, et al; January 2002
- American Academy of Family Physicians: High Blood Pressure - Things You Can Do to Help Lower Yours
- American Academy of Dermatology: Causes of Aging Skin
- The Daily Mail: Smoking: Hair, brain and skin
