Compromised immune system. The lymphatic system is an important part of the body’s immune system.This spells trouble for lymphies, when even a small break in the skin can lead to infection. This impedes the skin’s ability to regenerate itself, which is why smoking is associated with slow or incomplete wound healing and thinner skin. Smoking causes blood vessels at the top layer of the skin to constrict, which reduces blood flow and lowers oxygen levels in the blood it also reduces the levels of collagen in the skin. With the thousands of chemicals found in tobacco smoke, it’s no surprise that smoking affects almost every aspect of your health, including your lymphedema. You also don’t need me to tell you that smoking carries health risks - but how does it affect lymphedema, exactly? Smoking and lymphedema Smoking is addictive, and if you’re a current or former smoker, you don’t need me to tell you that. I felt helpless, and physically I felt absolutely awful. It continued like that for years: stopping and starting, swearing cigarettes off one week and desperately scrounging for old packs in my desk drawer the next. A little too confident it turns out, because a year or so later I began smoking again in full force. When I first wrote about smoking and lymphedema back in 2011, I was fresh off a quit and feeling confident about it.
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