However, what many patients who are planning to have surgery don’t realise is that stopping smoking can make the difference between a swift, easy recovery and one which is long, difficult and comes with a range of complications.
It’s so important not to smoke, use e-cigarettes (vape), or use nicotine patches before your surgery that, at Klinikal, we won’t go ahead with surgery if you haven’t stopped. So while it can be hard to give up nicotine in advance of your procedure, it’s essential that you do.
Here are just some of the reasons you need to quit smoking before you have any kind of surgery.
1. Your body gets more oxygen
Every time you smoke a cigarette, harmful chemicals such as nicotine, hydrogen cyanide and carbon monoxide are sucked into your body. These change the way that the body handles oxygen, which is needed for most of the body’s functions – and that includes the healing of wounds.
Exposing the molecule that carries oxygen through the body, haemoglobin, to cigarette smoke means that it’s not able to deliver oxygen so well. Plus the miniscule blood vessels in the body become narrower when you smoke, so it’s more difficult for haemoglobin molecules to reach the areas which need them.
What does this mean for someone who has surgery? It’s harder for the anaesthetist to keep someone who smokes breathing under anaesthetic, because their lungs don’t function as well as non-smokers’.
2. You’ll have less pain
Studies have found that smokers may experience more pain and discomfort after treatment than those who don’t smoke. Cigarette smoke contains chemicals which, it’s believed, increase inflammation and cause the body to interpret pain signals differently – so smokers may feel an increase in pain even after the wound has healed.
3. Your blood flows more easily
Smoking thickens the blood and, when that’s combined with narrowed blood vessels, it can’t flow as easily as it should. A reduction in oxygen throughout the body can mean that it’s harder for skin to heal where surgery has been performed, so recovery can take longer and complications can occur.
4. It’s easier to fight infection
Smoking can weaken the immune system, which raises the chance of infection after surgery. Haemoglobin, the molecules that transport oxygen throughout your body, can’t carry the correct amount of oxygen to your organs and tissues. Your body becomes deprived of the oxygen it needs to repair wounds and build healthy new tissue. Not only that, but toxins in the blood can enter the tissue and affect the healing process after surgery. Chemicals in cigarette smoke limit the activity of neutrophils. Without normal neutrophils, an infection could set in that may require antibiotics or even more surgery to cure.
The good news
Having surgery is a great reason to give up smoking for good. By stopping smoking for good in advance of a surgical procedure, you’ll not only reduce the likelihood of complications afterwards. Through not drawing in harmful chemicals into your lungs, you’ll improve your general health and wellbeing for the long term.
Your body will thank you for it. Your skin, hair and nails will all be healthier and your breath will be sweeter – plus you’ll quite possibly add a few years to your lifespan, too!
It’s so important not to smoke, use e-cigarettes (vape), or use nicotine patches before your surgery that, at Klinikal, we won’t go ahead with surgery if you haven’t stopped. So while it can be hard to give up nicotine in advance of your procedure, it’s essential that you do.
Here are just some of the reasons you need to quit smoking before you have any kind of surgery.
1. Your body gets more oxygen
Every time you smoke a cigarette, harmful chemicals such as nicotine, hydrogen cyanide and carbon monoxide are sucked into your body. These change the way that the body handles oxygen, which is needed for most of the body’s functions – and that includes the healing of wounds.
Exposing the molecule that carries oxygen through the body, haemoglobin, to cigarette smoke means that it’s not able to deliver oxygen so well. Plus the miniscule blood vessels in the body become narrower when you smoke, so it’s more difficult for haemoglobin molecules to reach the areas which need them.
What does this mean for someone who has surgery? It’s harder for the anaesthetist to keep someone who smokes breathing under anaesthetic, because their lungs don’t function as well as non-smokers’.
2. You’ll have less pain
Studies have found that smokers may experience more pain and discomfort after treatment than those who don’t smoke. Cigarette smoke contains chemicals which, it’s believed, increase inflammation and cause the body to interpret pain signals differently – so smokers may feel an increase in pain even after the wound has healed.
3. Your blood flows more easily
Smoking thickens the blood and, when that’s combined with narrowed blood vessels, it can’t flow as easily as it should. A reduction in oxygen throughout the body can mean that it’s harder for skin to heal where surgery has been performed, so recovery can take longer and complications can occur.
4. It’s easier to fight infection
Smoking can weaken the immune system, which raises the chance of infection after surgery. Haemoglobin, the molecules that transport oxygen throughout your body, can’t carry the correct amount of oxygen to your organs and tissues. Your body becomes deprived of the oxygen it needs to repair wounds and build healthy new tissue. Not only that, but toxins in the blood can enter the tissue and affect the healing process after surgery. Chemicals in cigarette smoke limit the activity of neutrophils. Without normal neutrophils, an infection could set in that may require antibiotics or even more surgery to cure.
The good news
Having surgery is a great reason to give up smoking for good. By stopping smoking for good in advance of a surgical procedure, you’ll not only reduce the likelihood of complications afterwards. Through not drawing in harmful chemicals into your lungs, you’ll improve your general health and wellbeing for the long term.
Your body will thank you for it. Your skin, hair and nails will all be healthier and your breath will be sweeter – plus you’ll quite possibly add a few years to your lifespan, too!
