WindsorTummyTuck | Effects of Smoking

Windsor Cosmetic Surgery | TummyTuck

Abdominoplasty for you. Fit into your clothes. Feel beautiful again.

Smoking

Apart from its obvious effects on our lungs, smoking has a significant negative effect on wound healing. Tobacco smoke contains over 3,800 identified substances. We are concerned with two of these. One is nicotine and the other is carbon monoxide.

Nicotine is a drug which makes our blood vessels constrict. This is not a good idea if we need the maximum amount of blood supplying the skin to keep it healthy and allow for optimal wound healing. Forget about nicotine patches. Nicotine is the actual problem.

Carbon monoxide leads to decreased oxygen in blood.

Both components increase the tendency of platelets (a cellular component of your blood which causes a clot to form) to adhere to each other and in so doing can increase our chances of forming an abnormal blood clot.

Smoking has been shown in multiple studies to cause delayed wound healing and an increase in post operative lung complications. Smokers form both weaker and wider scars than non-smokers.

The dilemma is that many patients who use tobacco also want elective cosmetic procedures.

On the basis of clinical experience and multiple studies, we recommend at least 6 weeks of abstinence from smoking before and at least 6 weeks after elective cosmetic surgery. This number is derived from studies which show that the incidence of infection of incisional wounds was significantly higher in smokers compared with never-smokers and that this period abstinence from smoking significantly reduces this infection rate.

Some surgeons advocate using a period of 2 weeks, but some studies have indicated that the risk of complications involving the lungs actually rises when patients stop or reduce smoking closer to surgery because of increased mucus production.

In our opinion, the risk factors for wound healing, especially for long time smokers, are still higher, but this risk is notably decreased with smoking cessation. We are here to improve your body image, but your safety is paramount.

Click here to learn more about why it is important that you "STOP SMOKING for SAFER SURGERY".

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