There’s more to it than just tossing your cigarettes out. Smoking is an addiction. The brain is hooked on nicotine. Without it, you’ll go through withdrawal. Line up support in advance. Ask your doctor about all the methods that will help, such as quit-smoking classes and apps, counseling, medication, and hypnosis. You’ll be ready for the day you choose to quit.
When you stop smoking, nicotine withdrawal may give you headaches, affect your mood, or sap your energy. The craving for “just one drag” is tough. Nicotine replacement therapy can curb these urges. Studies show that nicotine gum, lozenges, and patches improve your chances of success when you’re also in a quit-smoking program.
Medicines can curb cravings and may also make smoking less satisfying if you do pick up a cigarette. Other drugs can ease withdrawal symptoms, such as depression or problems with concentration.
Tell your friends, family, and other people you’re close to that you’re trying to quit. They can encourage you to keep going, especially when you’re tempted to light up. You can also join a support group or talk to a counselor. Behavioral therapy is a type of counseling that helps you identify and stick to quit-smoking strategies. Even a few sessions may help.
One reason people smoke is that the nicotine helps them relax. Once you quit, you’ll need new ways to unwind. There are many options. You can exercise to blow off steam, tune in to your favorite music, connect with friends, treat yourself to a massage, or make time for a hobby. Try to avoid stressful situations during the first few weeks after you stop smoking.
When you drink, it’s harder to stick to your no-smoking goal. So try to limit alcohol when you first quit. Likewise, if you often smoke when you drink coffee, switch to tea for a few weeks. If you usually smoke after meals, find something else to do instead, like brushing your teeth, taking a walk, texting a friend, or chewing gum.
Once you’ve smoked your last cigarette, toss all of your ashtrays and lighters. Wash any clothes that smell like smoke, and clean your carpets, draperies, and upholstery. Use air fresheners to get rid of that familiar scent. If you smoked in your car, clean it out, too. You don’t want to see or smell anything that reminds you of smoking.
Many people try several times before giving up cigarettes for good. If you light up, don’t get discouraged. Instead, think about what led to your relapse, such as your emotions or the setting you were in. Use it as an opportunity to step up your commitment to quitting. Once you’ve made the decision to try again, set a “quit date” within the next month.
Being active can curb nicotine cravings and ease some withdrawal symptoms. When you want to reach for a cigarette, put on your inline skates or jogging shoes instead. Even mild exercise helps, such as walking your dog or pulling weeds in the garden. The calories you burn will also ward off weight gain as you quit smoking.
Don’t try to diet while you give up cigarettes. Too much deprivation can easily backfire. Instead, keep things simple and try to eat more fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and lean protein. These are good for your whole body.
In addition to all the health benefits, one of the perks of giving up cigarettes is all the money you will save. There are online calculators that figure out how much richer you will be. Reward yourself by spending part of it on something fun.
As soon as you quit, you start to get immediate health benefits. After only 20 minutes, your heart rate goes back to normal. Within a day, your blood’s carbon monoxide level also falls back into place. In just 2-3 weeks, you will start to lower your odds of having a heart attack. In the long run, you will also lower your chance of getting lung cancer and other cancers.
Sign up for our free WebMD Daily Newsletter
Get doctor-approved health tips, news, and more.
Medically Reviewed by Zilpah Sheikh, MD on October 11, 2023
Maybe there is no fountain of youth, but there is a surefire way to make yourself look older. Smoking changes the skin, teeth, and hair in ways that can add years to your looks. It also affects everything from your fertility to the strength of your heart, lungs, and bones. Take a look at these side-by-side photos. Can you pick out the smoker? Check your pick and get a closer look on the next slide.
Twin B smoked half a pack a day for 14 years, while their sister never smoked. The loose skin under their eyes is typical for smokers, according to Bahman Guyuron, MD, of Case Western Reserve University. It’s one of several visible signs — shown on the following slides — that tobacco byproducts inside your body are harming your appearance. Twin B also got more sun, damaging their skin from the outside, too.
Smoking chronically deprives the skin of oxygen and nutrients. So some smokers appear pale, while others develop uneven coloring. These changes can begin at a young age, according to dermatologist Jonette Keri, MD, of the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. “In young nonsmokers, we don’t usually see a lot of uneven skin tone,” Keri says. “But this develops more quickly in people who smoke.”
There are more than 4,000 chemicals in tobacco smoke, and many of them trigger the destruction of collagen and elastin. These are the fibers that give your skin its strength and elasticity. Smoking or even being around secondhand smoke “degrades the building blocks of the skin,” Keri says. The consequences include sagging skin and deeper wrinkles.
Smoking doesn’t only damage the appearance of your face, it can also take a toll on your figure. As skin loses its elasticity, parts that were once firm may begin to droop. This includes the inner arms and breasts. Researchers have identified smoking as a top cause of sagging breasts.
Smoking delivers a one-two punch to the area around your mouth. First, you have the smoker’s pucker. “Smokers use certain muscles around their lips that cause them to have dynamic wrinkles that nonsmokers do not,” Keri says. Second, you have the loss of elasticity. Together, these factors can lead to deep lines around the lips.
Age spots are blotches of darker skin color that are common on the face and hands. While anyone can develop these spots from spending too much time in the sun, research suggests smokers are more susceptible.
In this image, the twin on the right spent decades smoking and sunbathing, while their sister did not.
Yellow teeth are one of the most notorious effects of long-term smoking, but the dental damage doesn’t stop there. People who smoke tend to develop gum disease, persistent bad breath, and other oral hygiene problems. Smokers are twice as likely to lose teeth as nonsmokers.
Think your hand looks sexy with a cigarette perched between your fingers? If you’ve been smoking for awhile, take a good look at your fingernails and the skin of your hands. Tobacco can actually stain the skin and nails, as well as the teeth. The good news is these stains tend to fade when you quit smoking.
Both men and women tend to develop thinner hair as they age, and smoking can accelerate this process. Some studies even suggest people who smoke are more likely to go bald. Researchers in Taiwan have identified smoking as a clear risk factor for male-pattern baldness in Asian men.
Even the eyes are vulnerable to tobacco’s reach. Smoking makes you more likely to develop cataracts as you age. These are cloudy areas on the lens of the eye that keep light from reaching the retina. If they cause serious vision problems, they are treated with surgery.
Psoriasis is a chronic condition that most often causes thick, scaly patches on the skin — usually on the knees, elbows, scalp, hands, feet, or back. The patches may be white, red, or silver. Recent studies suggest smokers have a greater risk of developing psoriasis.
Everyone gets wrinkles on the outside of the eyes eventually, but these wrinkles develop earlier and go deeper among smokers. Heat from burning cigarettes and squinting to keep smoke out of your eyes contribute to visible crow’s feet. Meanwhile, chemicals from inhaled tobacco cause internal damage to the skin structures and blood vessels around your eyes.
Quitting smoking can improve your appearance. As blood flow gets better, your skin receives more oxygen and nutrients. This can help you develop a healthier complexion. If you stay tobacco-free, the stains on your fingers and nails will disappear. You may even notice your teeth getting whiter.
When you quit smoking, you make your skin more resistant to premature aging. As for the wrinkles and age spots you already have, all is not lost. Keri, the University of Miami dermatologist, says there are products former smokers can use to make their skin look better. These include topical retinoids and antioxidants, such as vitamins C and E. She also recommends wearing sunscreen every day.
For more dramatic results, some former smokers choose to have cosmetic procedures. Laser skin resurfacing and chemical peels remove outer layers of skin, where the damage is most visible. “Reward yourself with a couple of skin treatments,” Keri suggests. “When you see the benefits of better-looking skin, you may be motivated to stay nicotine-free.”
Everyone knows the lungs take a beating from smoking, but research has pinpointed additional, surprising ways that tobacco affects the body, starting with your bones. Smoking raises your risk of developing weakened bones, or osteoporosis. This condition increases your risk for bone fractures including those of the spine, causing it to curve and leaving you hunched over.
Smoking affects nearly every organ in the body, including the heart. In people who smoke, the arteries that carry blood to the heart become narrowed over time. Smoking also increases blood pressure and makes it easier for blood to clot. These factors raise the odds of having a heart attack. In men who smoke, reduced blood flow can lead to erectile dysfunction.
Smoking’s impact on the heart and lungs can add up to a significant disadvantage on the track or field. Smokers tend to have a more rapid heart rate, poorer circulation, and more shortness of breath — not helpful qualities in an athlete. Whatever your favorite sport, one way to enhance your performance is to quit smoking.
Women who smoke have a tougher time getting pregnant and giving birth to a healthy baby. Cigarettes have been linked to fertility problems. And smoking during pregnancy raises the odds of having a miscarriage, premature birth, or delivering a low-birth-weight infant.
It’s something all women have in common: menopause, the phase when female hormones decline and the menstrual cycle stops for good. Most women experience this change around age 50. But smokers reach menopause an average of 1 1/2 years earlier than women who don’t smoke. The effect is strongest in women who have smoked heavily for many years.
Compared to nonsmokers, people who smoke or use smokeless tobacco products are more likely to develop oral cancer. Smokers who are also heavy drinkers are 15 times more likely to develop this form of cancer. The most common symptoms include a sore patch on the tongue, lips, gums, or other area inside the mouth that doesn’t go away and may be painful. Quitting smoking lowers the risk for oral cancer substantially within a few years.
Lung Cancer is the top cancer killer of men and women in the U.S. Of those who die from the disease, 9 out of 10 deaths are due to smoking. Cigarettes can also damage the lungs in other ways, making people more vulnerable to breathing problems and dangerous infections like pneumonia.
In just 20 minutes, blood pressure and heart rate return to normal. Within 24 hours, your heart attack risk begins falling. In the first weeks after quitting, tiny cilia (seen here) start back to work sweeping irritants out of the lungs. Within a year, your risk of developing heart disease drops to half that of people who still smoke. And after 10 smoke-free years, you’re no more likely to die of lung cancer than someone who never smoked.
Quitting gets rid of the lingering smell of tobacco in your breath, hair, and clothes. The toxic odor is a turnoff to nonsmokers and can even harm people around you, especially small children.
Experts agree that giving up cigarettes is very difficult. But if you’re telling yourself it’s impossible, think again. While there are 45 million smokers in the U.S., there are at least 48 million former smokers. If 48 million people could quit, it is doable. Just keep in mind that most people have to try more than once, and only 4%-7% succeed without help. Ask your doctor which smoking-cessation strategies might be right for you.
SPONSORED FROM OUR SPONSORS
Sign up for our free WebMD Daily Newsletter
Get doctor-approved health tips, news, and more.
Medically Reviewed by Zilpah Sheikh, MD on August 28, 2023
Within half an hour of your last cigarette, your heart rate and blood pressure typically drop to normal levels. That’s good, because high blood pressure is known as “the silent killer” for its dangerous effects that often have no symptoms. These include heart attack, stroke, loss of vision, and more. A pulse that’s too fast is harder on your heart. It can cause tiredness, dizziness, chest pain, and breathing problems.
When you smoke, you have 3 to 15 times more of this toxic chemical in your blood than someone who doesn’t smoke. At higher levels, you might have a headache, faster pulse, dizziness, or nausea. That level drops to normal less than a day after you quit. That makes room for more oxygen in your red blood cells that you need for your heart, brain, and other organs.
Smoking is the top cause of heart attacks. Your risk goes down after just 1 day without cigarettes and continues to drop after that. If you’ve already had a heart attack and cut out cigarettes, you cut your chance of having another one in half.
Toxins in cigarette smoke kill the cells that help you taste and smell. Fortunately, these cells seem to grow back quickly when you stop smoking.
Cigarette smoke inflames these pathways through which air moves in and out of your lungs. That can make it harder to breathe. But it starts to get much better just 72 hours after you quit as the tubes start to relax. You might notice a boost in energy, too.
It should start to improve almost immediately, but after a couple of weeks or more you might notice even bigger improvements. You may start to feel sensations more easily, and your hands and feet will be warmer as well. Good circulation is also linked to healthier blood pressure, pulse, and blood-oxygen levels.
Here’s where you really might start to feel like you have more energy. You’ll start to cough less and breathe better. Tiny hair-like structures in your lungs called cilia start to grow back. These help clean out your lungs and lessen infection. Your lung function could go up by as much as 10%.
You risk of both heart disease and heart attack drop to about half that of a smoker. Nothing else you can do has such a dramatic effect on heart health.
Smoking raises your risk for certain cancers. You can help lower it again if you quit. After 5 years, your risk of mouth, throat, esophageal, and bladder cancers will be just half of what it was when you smoked. Your risk of cervical cancer will fall to that of a nonsmoker.
Smoking speeds up the formation of blood clots that can lead to a stroke. But in as few as 5 years after you quit, your risk of stroke could fall to the same as that of someone who doesn’t smoke.
That’s how long it takes to cut your lung cancer risk to half that of a person who still smokes. At this time, your risk of cancer of the larynx and of the pancreas also goes down.
Congratulations! You’ve done much to reverse the damage that cigarette smoking causes. Your risk of both heart disease and heart attack is now the same as someone who has never smoked.
