How Smoking Affects the Hands in Houston 

Did you know that nicotine found in cigarettes, cigars and pipes can hinder the healing process, hamper the immune system and lead to hand problems in Houston? Not only is there a correlation between smoking and hand problems but even e-cigarettes can produce chemicals that worsen hand conditions in the Houston, Texas area.

Researchers have linked smoking cigarettes and other devices with the following:

  • Reduced blood flow
  • Poor wound healing and/or complications
  • Poor bone healing
  • Increased circulation problems
  • Worsened nerve problems

All of the issues above can affect the hands and upper extremities. For example, reduced blood flow (the narrowing of blood vessels) can affect the very small blood vessels at the fingertips and the blood vessels that go to bone, nerve, and other important tissues in the hand and upper body.

For example, if you have a finger tip injury, hand trauma from a power saw accident, or if your blood flow is compromised, this could lead to poor healing, possibly even amputation of the affected area if it cannot receive the oxygen and nutrients necessary to heal.

Nicotine can also make some hand conditions worse.

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How exactly can smoking cause hand problems?

Yes, smoking and hand conditions are directly related. More specifically, researchers have linked smoking with the following hand-related issues:

  • It reduces blood flow to parts of the body including fingers, toes, arms and legs.
  • It causes complications to wound healing.
  • It results in bones healing poorly.
  • It increases your circulation problems.
  • It worsens any existing nerve injuries and problems.

All of the issues above can affect the hands and upper extremities. For example, reduced blood flow (the narrowing of blood vessels) can affect the very small blood vessels at the fingertips and the blood vessels that go to bone, nerve and other important tissues in the hand and upper extremities.

Nicotine and chemicals in tobacco can also make some prior hand conditions worse. For example:

  • Hand Fractures or broken bones are more difficult to heal when you smoke, and smoking can cause some fractures to never heal.
  • Smokers are more likely to develop Dupuytren’s Contracture, a hand deformity.
  • Nerve problems, due to too much pressure on the nerve, are often worse in smokers who also have other circulation problems such as diabetes.
  • Reflex sympathetic dystrophy and cigarette smoking are statistically linked.
  • Cigarette smoke and nicotine impair skin wound healing.
  • Smokers are more likely to develop Buerger’s disease, a rare disease in the arteries and legs.

Smokers should stop smoking before surgery or when recovering from wounds from trauma, disease or recent emergency surgery. It is best to stop smoking as soon as possible in order to allow your body to recover.

In some instances, if you are being treated in our Houston or Conroe, Texas hand centers, hand specialist, Dr. Jason Ashford, may ask you to take a nicotine test to prove that you have stopped smoking. Speak to our physicians about resources that can help you quit smoking in our local areas.

You can also speak directly with Dr. Ashford and his team by scheduling a time to ask more questions about smoking and hand conditions.