Smoking and Hair Loss

Smoking is a costly habit in many ways. For example, regular smokers pay at least a hundred rupees every day to engage in this habit. This amount adds up to close to a lakh rupees per year and this is just a tip of the actual problem. Health impacts of smoking are well documented and well known to most people. The nicotine butt also causes signs of ageing and hair loss simultaneously. The following are a few ways in which smoking impacts your beautiful hair.

Blood Circulation

Long-term smoking increases the risk of coronary heart diseases and atherosclerosis. This happens as smoking leads to the building of plaque, a waxy substance in the body. This substance hardens over time and narrows your arteries. This, in turn, reduces the flow of oxygen-rich blood to organs and other parts of the body. As a result, smokers experience hair thinning, greying hair and hair loss much more, assuming all other consequential factors are the same.

Stress

Stress is known to directly cause hair loss in many ways. There are many other more influential reasons for hair loss such as genetics for hair loss. However, stress is important to discuss because it is preventable. Smoking causes Oxidative stress. Oxidative stress is a negative body process in which free radicals from stress damages hair cells, decreasing the ability of cell fluids to move freely and leads to regressive growth towards inactivity.

Illnesses       

Smoking has been documented to reduce immunity levels. This makes smokers more vulnerable to illnesses which cause hair loss. Illnesses that cause hair loss include Thyroid disease, alopecia areata, ringworm and lichen planus and some types of Lupus. Smoking in most cases here would act as a contributing factor to ultimate baldness rather than one that causes it. However, smoking is a deadly habit for overall health and should be avoided at all costs.

Smoking is a dangerous lifestyle choice and many notable authorities like the Indian government and NGOS are doing their best to spread the word. We as a hair clinic regularly meet many young people who have taken to smoking and drinking as a lifestyle choice. We often advise these youngsters to take better care of their health. If you have lost your hair due to smoking, we can also suggest a number of hair restoration solutions like Cold Beam Laser Treatment, Rich Plasma Platelet Laser Service, Hair Transplant, etc.