We have all heard about the health hazards of smoking our entire lives, but did you know that in addition to contributing to adverse effects on virtually every system of the human body, smoking also affects the appearance of your facial skin? It’s true. Every time you inhale a cigarette, different types of damage is done to your facial skin, and smoking accelerates the aging of your skin, which is something that no one wants to experience.
In an age when most people are doing everything in their power (and with the help of their cosmetic surgeon) to reverse the signs of aging including getting Botox® in Denver at Fante Eye & Face Centre, one step you can take to look younger is to stop smoking today. We realize that’s much easier said than done, but with so many smoking cessation medications, patches, gums, e-cigarettes and the like to help smokers kick the habit, it is possible and maybe a little easier than ever before.
How Does Smoking Affect the Skin?
Did you know that after only ten years of smoking, the facial skin on even young adults begins to become affected in negative ways? Wrinkles become visible because smoking causes narrowing of the blood vessels in the outer layers of the facial skin. This, in turn, results in less blood flow and reduces the amount of nutrients and oxygen that get to the skin. Smoking, in a sense, starves your facial skin of the nutrients and oxygen it needs to stay healthy. So, after several years of regular smoking, your skin will certainly start to show signs of premature aging.
According to the American Academy of Dermatology, “Smoking damages important connective fibers like collagen and elastin, causing permanent wrinkles. This damage doesn’t take long to appear—studies have found that even smokers as young as 20 years old had facial wrinkling that doctors could see under a microscope. And if you smoke 10 or more cigarettes a day for at least 10 years, you’re more likely to develop deeply wrinkled, leathery skin and a yellowish complexion.”
Other ways that smoking adversely affects the facial skin is that when you purse your lips to inhale cigarette smoke and squint to prevent smoke from going into your eyes, you are causing stress to your skin. Crow’s feet around your eyes are one result of inhaling cigarette smoke; another result are deep lines around the sides of your mouth, making you appear older than you really are.
If you’re looking for Botox® in Denver to help repair some of the damage smoking has caused your facial skin, Dr. Fante at Fante Eye & Face Centre can help. Botox® has proven to be a successful tool to minimize the wrinkles, lines and creases caused by smoking. To learn more about Botox® in Denver, how it can help the damage done by smoking, and what to expect during Botox® please contact the Fante Eye & Face Centre, serving Denver, Boulder and surrounding communities today.
