One medical fact that likely everyone knows is that smoking is bad for you. It contributes to cancer and heart disease, in addition to a number of other diseases. One lesser-known fact about smoking is that it can actually impede the body’s ability to heal itself. It is important that any person considering any type of surgery - cosmetic surgery in particular - be aware of that fact.

The Affect Smoking Has on Healing

Smoking affects healing in many different ways. First of all, smoking makes it more difficult for blood to get to the area that needs to heal. It does this by constricting the blood vessels in the body. This restriction prevents oxygen and other nutrients from getting to where they need to go to help the body heal.

Secondly, not only does it impede oxygen from getting to the wound, it also decreases the overall oxygen in the blood. This means that the blood that does manage to reach the wound has less oxygen in it than it should.

Finally, smoking actually disrupts and decreases the development of collagen by the body. Collagen is the connective tissue found throughout the body and is integral in the healing process. This substance is absolutely necessary for a person to heal properly from surgery.

Due to these and other factors, individuals who smoke are discouraged from getting certain types of plastic surgery. Cosmetic surgeries in particular are discouraged because additional scarring is likely to occur if a person is a smoker, and the idea of cosmetic surgery is to improve a person’s appearance. Scarring does not work toward that goal. Some plastic surgeons will not perform certain types of plastic surgery on patients who smoke because the affect is so negative.

Quitting Smoking

The only way to prevent these healing problems altogether is by quitting smoking, this will also help to improve a person’s overall health. Rather than being restricted to the old cold-turkey method, there are now many different products available on the market to help smokers quit.

The nicotine patch, which has been around a while, helps smokers quit by give them nicotine in smaller and smaller doses. The nicotine lozenge operates under the same idea, although it is a lozenge that goes under the tongue. The nicotine gum is very similar to the lozenge.

There are also prescription pills available to help people to quit smoking. One type is called Varenicline. Varenicline is a pill that helps the body to fight nicotine cravings although it does not contain nicotine. Varenicline also causes cigarettes to provide less satisfaction when they are smoked. This helps to discourage smokers from smoking.