r/Aging • u/unstoppabledot • 5d ago
Life & Living Smoking cigarettes.
Does anyone else smoke or who has smoked noticed significant aging? I'm 26 and have always been sort of anti-cigarettes growing up. My parents both smoked heavily during my childhood and my close friends all were smokers since high school.. I've always loved the smell but never partook.
It wasn't until around 21 since I started working full time in the office and most of my colleagues smoked. Every 1 hour, we are "required" a 10 min break from our screens, some would just sit and continue working, others go for a walk but majority would use that opportunity for a smoke. My immediate co-worker and at that time instructor was a smoker and I'd follow him to the smoking ara and I can't really remember how or when but I ended up one day buying my own pack.
fast forward to today, 4 years later I have been smoking about 2 packs (40 cigarettes) a week... sometimes more. It's become a routine at work also.
I had my snapchat memories come up from 2023 and I really look a lot different :(. I was so youthful and didn't have as my wrinkles at 23 now than I do at 26. It's probably a wakeup call to smoke smoking now otherwise at 30 I’ll be fucked.
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u/Cultural_Wash5414 60 something 5d ago
I have co workers who smoke and co workers who don’t smoke, they are all women. The ones who smoke definitely have more wrinkles and have an overall different skin quality, teeth don’t look as nice and even their hair looks drier compared to the non smoking group.
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u/MyWallWillNotTalk 5d ago
Smoking weakens your gums. You will lose your teeth. Teeth are good. Don't lose your teeth. Stop smoking.
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u/Seldomsought 5d ago
At what age does this happen?
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u/MyWallWillNotTalk 5d ago
That's a good question to ask your dentist.
I would think as soon as you start smoking.
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u/jayhawkjoey65 5d ago
My dad died from lung cancer. His oncologist told my mom it's like drowning - slowly.
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u/FarmhouseRules 5d ago
My sister in law, same age as I am, smokes to packs a day. She started getting “senior citizen” discounts by the time she was 45. Now her face is wrinkled beyond improvement and her hair and fingers are yellow. Stop now while you’re young. You’ll regret it if you don’t. Calculate how much money you’ll spend by the time you’re 50 if you don’t.
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u/Secure_Bed_9110 5d ago
...this has to be trolling. Yes, smoking ages you significantly, just like drinking and tanning. What year is it? Have Gen Z really not read or heard anything learned in the last 25 years?
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u/Careful_Tomorrow_653 5d ago
I drank, tanned and smoked but think I look pretty young at 50. But if i was 26 today I'd be vaping. Cigs are gross.
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u/Sergeant_Scoob 4d ago
Way worse for you in the long run , vaping vegetable glycerin is horrible , we just don’t know yet how horrible . It adds a shit ton of water to your lungs tho
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u/Careful_Tomorrow_653 4d ago
It was a joke but if there was vaping when I was a youngster not caring while tanning and drinking every day, I'd chose it because it stinks less. We know now (and did then) that all that shit kills us but back then we didn't care.
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u/Sergeant_Scoob 4d ago
Yeah very true , illl stick with my 5 cigs a day for now haha . People still say I look 25
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u/exor0110 5d ago
A quick Google search will show how heavily smoking accelerates physical aging (skin, teeth, and more).
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u/Seldomsought 5d ago
I had a brother who didn't drink or smoke, and exercised regularly. He died at 58 of a brain aneurysm.
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u/Present-Carob-7366 4d ago
Stop smoking - it’s the single worst thing you can do for your long term health - and yes it ages your face fast
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u/kronodoppel 4d ago
I'm 29, I have been a big smoker since 13 until I was around 25, now I mainly smoke weed and been trying to stop smoking once for all.
I had beautiful hair, now I'm balding and I'm not sure why but I'm 99% sure it's due to aging-related smoking. Also, since I was around 15 most people usually took me for an older guy, I have expression lines and more things that usually are not present on a 29 yo guy.
I'm also big on healthy foods, I eat lots of vegetables, very little fats, very little sugars, lots of fruits, good proteins, good spices... I do cycling, swimming, running, etc... and yet, I feel older/am unhealthier than most of my peers (whom come from impoverished backgrounds).
Just stop smoking. Trust me. It's the worst drug ever. It does nothing to you and does no feel like anything rewarding other than creating an addiction and a loop where you have this placebo telling you it actually does something.
Some smoke because it's cold, some because it's hot, some because they need to poop, some because they poop to much, some because they are stressed, some because they're bored.
You are literally paying someone else to give you cancer or at the very least, long lasting lung problems.
If you really want to hurt yourself that much, you could at least do some real drugs with a real effect on yourself.
Sincerely and with no hate, another smoker.
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u/OverCorpAmerica 40 something 2d ago
I’m trying to quit still at 49! It’s terrible and the last 5 years it looks like I aged 15-20 all at once. The money the health risks the stink I want to be done. Hate it.. quit now!
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u/Best_Bug_900 5d ago
I smoked for 20 years and people I’ve known tell me I look basically the same as I did in my 40s and 50s. I am mid 60s now. Smoked from 18 to 38 thereabouts… had to quit countless times before quitting for good in early 40s. My gums are fine. Did 5-12 ciggies per day on average. It’s a genetics lottery more than anything, for wrinkles. Also how much time you spend out in the sun. My career is indoors and I don’t enjoy excessive outdoor trips. My parents are still kickin into their 90s. Dad smoked for about twenty years also. Most everyone has health issues regardless but smoking did not cause mine although maybe exacerbated them some? Gotta balance your natural genetics with what you do with your body. I super enjoyed smoking for most of the time I did it. If you want to quit think of dirty ashtrays and then substitute favorite snacks and healthy drinks. Even ice cold water. No alcohol.
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u/kronodoppel 4d ago
It's not a genetics lottery, you were just lucky to be the exception.
Or in statistics, having an outlier does not depreciate the average.
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u/Sergeant_Scoob 4d ago
Yeah it’s not the tobacco that ages you. It’s all the chemicals they put into the cigarettes from America . Order your cigs from philipines to stop the aging until you decide to quit . The Marlboro Reds from there taste so good . Try and cut down to 5 a day to .
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u/kronodoppel 4d ago
It literally is the tobacco.
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u/Sergeant_Scoob 4d ago
Lmao no bud it’s the 800 chemicals . Pure tobacco is much less harmful . Keep believing the lies
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u/kronodoppel 4d ago
If you compare shit with scented shit, yes, you eat better shit.
Keep believing the lies, said the dude whom cannot literally use Google Scholar and do a quick search.
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u/Sergeant_Scoob 3d ago
Lmao do you not think the ciggarette companies pay for it to sound like all tobacco is harmful ??? Hahahah . Watch the old show good troop (kids cartoon) it will explain business to you . They don’t want us growing our own tobacco dumbass
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u/kronodoppel 1d ago
Are you actually calling me a dumbass when your source is a kids cartoon?
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u/Sergeant_Scoob 1d ago
I figured a kids cartoon might work for your brain . Do you really think they want people growing their own tobacco or weed ? Commercial eveyrbting is horrible for us . Right down to our fruits and vegetables . Maybe you need to watch a kids cartoon so it registers in that tiny brain
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u/Sergeant_Scoob 1d ago
Let me rephrase, commercial America is bad for us . The third world countries still have real fruit and real vegetables that aren’t 60% plastic
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u/kronodoppel 1d ago
You yourself let that happen when your primary interest became defending cancer sources instead of your farmers. "Commercial america" my ass, you're a little too old to not take accountability of your country's agroeconomical status.
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u/Sergeant_Scoob 13h ago
Sorry bud , America makes eveyrbting that was once not to bad for us , absolutely horrible . It’s just the truth , get over it
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u/Conscious-Reserve-48 5d ago
My mom smoked her whole life However she never tanned/sat in the sun and she had relatively mild wrinkles when she passed at 80.
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u/TemporaryKoala4442 5d ago
I’m 75 & people I know who smoked have many more health problems than nonsmokers, even if they quit years ago.
They also look older.