What are Cigarettes Doing to Your Skin? San Anselmo CA

Cigarettes and Your Skin...A Recipe for Premature Aging

With all the well-publicized reasons not to smoke, you hardly need another one. But if the threat of cancer, heart disease, and emphysema  aren't enough to make you pack it in, how about your youth? Just like too much sun exposure, smoking can make you look years older than you are. Wrinkles around your mouth and eyes from inhaling and squinting are just the beginning of the harm it brings to your skin. Cigarettes also interfere with your body's ability to:

Stay Hydrated

Since nicotine is a diuretic like alcohol and caffeine, it has dehydrating effects on your skin. Lack of moisture is one of the main reasons for premature aging.

Absorb Nutrients

Smoking reduces Vitamin A in your body and interferes with your ability to absorb Vitamin C. It also stops your capillaries from carrying oxygen and essential nutrients for skin repair, restoration, and regeneration to your skin's surface.

Heal at a Normal Rate

Because cigarettes slow down your natural healing process, your skin doesn't repair itself as quickly. Ironically, you could even take longer than a non-smoker to heal from an anti-aging treatment such as skin resurfacing.  

Produce Collagen & Elastin

Smoking interferes with getting these vital fibers to your skin's surface.

Fight Viral Infections..

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