How Does Smoking Affect My Hair?

November 14, 2024 Mikey Moran

As we know, smoking is bad for your body in a variety of ways.

People lose their teeth, hands, feet, and eyes over tobacco.

Some people become addicted, develop cancer, or walk away with no ailments when smoking tobacco-based products. 🚬

It depends on the body and the chemical processes that occur within each.

However, all of these horror stories about smoking lead us to wonder what effect smoking can have on your hair and how it can negatively affect even your wigs.

Black Braided Hair Woman Smoking Outside

What Are the Effects of Smoking on Hair

While the effects of smoking on hair follicles are not highly publicized, there must be some impact on the hair, just as anything a person ingests, food or alcohol, has long or short-term effects.

Smoking Cigarettes

Cigarettes have quickly become the devil of the smoking world.

Tallying more negatives than positives, with cancer being at the top of the list. So, what does smoking cigarettes do to your hair?

On the surface, there are obvious drawbacks to your hair from smoking, like your hair continually smelling like cigarette smoke and accidentally setting your hair on fire (hey, it does happen).

Premature graying of the hair can occur due to smoking cigarettes. The active toxins in cigarettes negatively affect hormones and hair follicles.

Additionally, hair can turn an even darker color due to the nicotine and tar in cigarettes.

Smoking can also cause balding and thinning hair because of the blockage in hair follicles, low circulation, and damaged hormones.

Having a low flow and restricted blood vessels can cause hair to be dull and prone to breakage because of the lack of nutrients pushed into the scalp and hair shaft.

Furthermore, smoking can also reduce your hair growth cycle because of the lack of oxygen your scalp receives.

Without proper blood flow and oxygen, your hair is not able to reach its full growth potential or make it through its entire growth phase.

Cigarettes are known to cause skin cancer, which can mean losing the skin on your scalp or having to undergo treatment that will cause you to lose your hair.

Smoking Hookah

Although hookah is seen as a fun social activity, tastes sweet, and is legal for users as young as 16, hookah is as dangerous as smoking cigarettes.

Hookah is tobacco and other chemicals mixed with water and flavors.

Therefore, if done on a regular basis, hookah smoking is detrimental to hair health, essentially because of the direct and high exposure to heat and the direct burning of the charcoal being more potent.

It also allows the users to absorb more of the toxins into their system. Hookah can restrict blood flow and reduce oxygen to the scalp.

Overall, both products cause hair loss and damage to the scalp because of the nicotine, tar, and additional chemical toxins included in the products.

It also accelerates the aging process for the hair and scalp, causing thinning, balding, greys, and lifeless hair.

Smoking Marijuana Effects on Hair

For those who live in a marijuana-legal state, the good news is that marijuana isn't directly linked to hair loss.

It also doesn't have a significant impact on hair balding or thinning as far as research has shown currently.

However, the irregular eating and sleeping patterns caused by smoking marijuana over a long period can have negative impacts on hair health.

If your body doesn't have the right fuel or enough time to rest, it is unable to properly feed your scalp and allow your hair to grow the building blocks it needs.

Benefits of Quitting for Your Hair

Hair is a part of your body, and just like your organs, skin, and teeth, your hair health changes when you quit smoking.

Immediately after quitting, most individuals' bodies receive more oxygen, and the body has stronger blood circulation to the hair and scalp.

How to Combat Hair Loss Due to Smoking

As long as your hair loss issue doesn't stem from a more serious issue like skin cancer or a scalp or hair disease, you should still be able to combat the adverse effects of smoking on your hair follicles.

Here are a few tips:

Cutting Back Smoking

As mentioned, your hair sees immediate improvement, and blood circulation and oxygen to the scalp is improved.

Take Hair Supplements

Whether you eat a balanced diet or have a wacky food schedule, one of the most important keys to healthy and steady hair growth is putting the right things inside your body.

Taking biotin or another hair supplement will fill the gaps in your eating and provide your body with essential nutrients like protein, biotin, and amino acids that you need to have stronger, longer hair.