Does Smoking Cause Hair Loss? Is There A Connection?

Smoking is injurious to health. When any smoker breathes in the chemicals, they enter the bloodstream, travel to different parts of the body, and negatively impact health. We all know that the chemicals that tobacco smoke contains cause respiratory illness and lung cancer. Besides this, it has another lesser-known side effect which is smoking. It is still not clear why smoking causes hair loss, but it is believed that there are several contributing factors. So, there is a connection between the two. Let’s dig deeper into how it causes hair loss.

How does Smoking Cause Hair Loss?

Smoking damages the hair follicles and results in hair loss. Many of the chemicals that tobacco smoke contains, along with nicotine, are responsible for hair loss. But more research is required to support this. It may cause hair loss by reducing blood flow to hair follicles and by inducing oxidative stress.

Reduced Blood Flow To Hair Follicles

Chemicals that tobacco smoke contains badly affect your cardiovascular health and negatively impact blood circulation. Smoking builds up plaque in the blood vessels. As you know, the hair follicles are nourished by the blood vessels. So, when the plaque blocks them, they cannot supply blood to hair follicles and causes hair loss. Besides this, plaque contributes to heart attack, blood clot and stroke.

Oxidative Stress

Oxidative stress means an excess of free radicals in the body. Exposure to pollution, ultraviolet rays, radiation and tobacco smoke, causes oxidative stress. Breathing in the chemicals that tobacco smoke contains produces free radicals. They destroy the DNA of the cells in hair follicles and results in impaired hair growth. It is interesting to know that the balding scalps are sensitive to oxidative stress.

Other Factors

Smoking may causes changes in the body that contributes to hair loss. It includes:

• increased levels of cytokines that cause scarring of hair follicles
• promotes the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines, which causes inflammation
• increases hydroxylation of estradiol hormone and inhibits aromatase that causes low estrogen level
• changes enzyme levels which controls tissue remodeling in the hair growth cycle

How Smoking Impacts Your Hair Health?

Along with hair loss, tobacco smoke badly impacts the health of your hair in many ways that include:

Poor Hair Transplants

Smokers are at significant risk of developing complications when they undergo hair transplantation. They may face skin tissue death on their hair scalp.

Onset Of Gray Hair At An Early Age

There is a connection between the onset of grey hair even before the age of 30 in those who smoke tobacco.

Makes The Hair Dry

Smoking causes oxidative stress, which speeds up the ageing process of your hair. It leads to dry hair at a very young age.

Makes The Hair Brittle

Smoking decreases blood flow to hair follicles, disrupts collagen production, and makes the hair brittle.

Vaping and Hair loss – Is there a connection?

Vaping is the inhaling of vapors through an electronic cigarette. It is a new method of smoking. There’s still not much research on how vaping is impacting the health of a smoker. It is evident that it causes oxidative stress and also damages the DNA. So, both are the factors that lead to hair loss.

How to Quit Smoking?

It is pretty challenging to quit smoking, but it can positively impact your health if a smoker does. A doctor can give you an excellent plan to quit tobacco smoking. Some of the ways that may help a smoker to quit smoking include:

Prescription Drugs

Zyban, Chantix are some drugs that help you ease your cravings and withdraw its symptoms. These drugs can be taken with nicotine replacement theory.

Nicotine Replacement Theory

Some people use nicotine gums, patches or inhalers to wean down the nicotine amount that they consume. Reducing its intake slowly helps the smokers decrease their withdrawal symptoms.

Support Therapies

Another strategy to quit smoking is by joining support groups and by taking proper counselling. This works as it is beneficial to quit tobacco smoking.

Alternative Therapies

Some alternative therapies break the habits that you have developed during tobacco smoking. Medications, hypnosis and acupuncture are some of the options in this regard. And yes, you can buy online medicines in Pakistan via Marham. Pk.

Quitting Apps

Several apps are available on your play store that is designed for this purpose. They help the smoker in quitting cigarette smoking.

Avoid Smoking Environments

If you stay away from those environments where people smoke more often, it could be helpful for you to reduce temptation.

Quit Cold Turkey

You might experience severe withdrawal symptoms when you quit smoking cold turkey, but it can faster help you overcome your nicotine habit.

Smoking is harmful not for your hair but for your overall well-being. Your life is precious. So, do not smoke and add more years to your life.

Read Also: What Hormone Causes Hair Loss? 5 Things to Know