If you filled a room with people of the same age and half were smokers and half were not, it would certainly be easy to spot the smokers. Even allowing for differing rates of pollution, sun damage and other abuse of the skin, it’s likely the smokers would still stand out. Studies of twins where one has smoked and the other hasn’t make that all too clear.
Jowls, sagging eyelids and, most of all, wrinkles are a part of the aging process. It’s a process we all go through, but smoking speeds it up. Most people want to find a way to slow aging, and there are certainly a lot of ways you can cheat – surgery, botox – but it’s cheaper by far simply to stop smoking. In fact, there is really no point paying for those procedures if you keep on smoking.
The effect of giving up can be dramatic: in twins’ studies, where both twins smoked for a long time, you can clearly tell which twin gave up a few years earlier than the other.
So how does smoking age you?
Simply by cutting down on the oxygen which reaches your skin. And if you are very wrinkly? It’s an indicator that your smoking may have caused some air flow obstruction, and it’s worth having this investigated. But oxygen deficiency isn’t the only factor in smokers’ premature aging. The toxins in cigarettes are all more at home in heavy industry than the human body, and they take their toll on skin cells. Free radical production goes up, vitamin A goes down.
I’m afraid vaping also causes premature ageing: nicotine decreases collagen levels which make skin look dry and puffy.
Sometimes people say they smoke to stay slim, but who wants to look thin and wrinkly? Stop smoking if you want to look your age, or younger than your age!
How does stopping make me look younger?
When you stop smoking, oxygen levels increase in all this tissue – including your skin! Your body starts being able to produce new skin cells, making you look younger and more vibrant. If you’d like to stop smoking or vaping for good, stay slim and look younger then get in touch to see how I could help you with this. I run a quit smoking hypnosis Soho clinic in Central London and want to help you achieve this easily and quickly – most of my clients get the results they’re looking for within the first 2 hour session.
You can read more about how smoking can age you by interfering with your DNA, the reasons smokers might find it difficult to stop smoking gradually or the ways nicotine plays tricks on you by making you feel it helps you with stress and anxiety (but doesn’t!).
