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I guess it's silly for me to tell you that smoking is bad for your health. Who doesn't know? I was a heavy smoker for 13 years before quitting just a few years ago and I know it really takes some commitment to quit. So how are smoking and hair loss related to each another? The simple answer is, the more you smoke, the more hair you are going to lose.

No long time smokers want to smoke, it's just that they are already addicted to it and it has become a part of their life. Life is hectic and stressful and it so happens that smoking can help people feel that they are in control.

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Why I Stopped Smoking

You most probably have heard of all the health problems associated with smoking. Then you should also know that lung cancer wasn't even considered a common disease back in those days where there were no tobacco? Now, lung cancer is the world's top killer besides heart attacks. It just so happens that these two top killers are directly associated by smoking.

Did you also know that a single stick of cigarette has over 4000 poisonous chemicals and your body is absorbing all of them with each smoke you inhale?

You are probably wondering why I am going off topic here since this page is supposed to be about smoking and hair loss. Shouldn't I be focusing on that topic instead?

Well, I just hope to share some experiences I had before as a smoker and how my health and hair benefited from stopping. So let's get straight to the point, as an ex-smoker and a hair loss survivor myself, there are 4 main reasons on why I quit smoking which are

• I have seen a few good friends passed at a relatively young age due to smoking related illnesses.
• I looked much older and my hair growth was slower even with treatments.
• I am hoping to live a long, enjoyable and guilt-free life until I am old.
• Many researches point that smoking and hair loss are directly related and I chose my hair over smoking. (I will explain below)

It's the truth, ask yourself this! How many people that you know who smokes look much older and losing their hair? Take some time to notice and you'll know what I mean.

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Back to Topic! Smoking and Hair Loss

Everyone knows that a cigarette is filled with tar, nicotine, 4000 poisonous chemicals and it will kill you but how do it affects hair loss? Each time you smoke, you

• Inhale carbon monoxide
  Carbon monoxide prevents your bloods ability to carry oxygen and vital nutrients to your organs and cells. Your hair follicle is one of the fastest growing cells in your body and it requires constant and adequate supply of oxygen and nutrients to grow. High levels of carbon monoxide impede your hair growth tremendously.
• Bombard your body with 4000 poisonous chemicals
  Imagine polluting your body with so many chemicals every time you puff in a cigarette. That means your body will have to respond and clean of these invading substances to keep your body clean. That will take off much of your body resources to do other things like nourishing your hair.
• Screw up your blood circulatory system
  The main ingredient of cigarettes, nicotine can cause your blood vessels to contract which in turn affects blood circulation to your hair. As your hair grows really fast, insufficient blood supply will stop hair growth.
• Keep your body on overdrive
  Nicotine also keeps your body constantly excited. Your body responds to nicotine by releasing andrenaline which makes your whole body pumped up. That is why when you don't smoke you feel depressed. When you are running at maximum capacity all the time, you will wear down your body and accelerates the aging process. That is why you will look much older after smoking for years and the older you get, you will naturally have less hair as well.

There are a million more reasons that what this little stick can do to you. So if you really care for your hair, at least you should know what you are inhaling into your body. I've found a concise list for your right here.

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I Thought Mine is Genetic?

Well, technically speaking whether you smoke or not won't stop Male Pattern Baldness or other hair loss conditions but smoking will speed up hair loss and slows down the effectiveness of treatments. No matter what kind of treatments you use, expect it to be less effective for smokers.

A simple explanation, products like Propecia prevents DHT that causes Male Pattern Baldness and Minoxidil stimulates hair growth, but smoking cuts your oxygen and nutrient supplies that it need to grow. Without it, DHT or no DHT won't prevent your hair from falling.

In the long run, you will be finding it a lot harder for your hair follicles to respond to the medications and then you start blaming that the medications do not work for you.

Need more convincing? Try this clinical study of more than 700 subjects from Taiwan on how smoking increases the speed of Male Pattern Baldness and other hair loss conditions.

See the clinical study on smoking and hair loss

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It's Between Smoking and Your Hair, Your Choice

The choice is yours and you should know better. Smoking and hair loss are directly related to each another. A full time smoker or a frequent third party smoker will have more to lose in the long run than just their hair.

I would strongly advice and recommend that for the sake of getting your hair back and if you smoke,it's time to stop. Even if you don't mind losing your hair, it's still time to stop smoking. I've stopped and I've never look back. I can feel my hair is much more responsive to my medications and overall I feel much better and healthier.

If you need some references of smoking and hair loss, you can check out some of these articles below.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/20/health/20real.html?_r=1

http://quitsmoking.about.com/od/chemicalsinsmoke/a/chemicalshub.htm

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Back to Preventing Hair Loss
Return to Surviving-Hairloss.com

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