Many smokers face the problem that, after years of smoking, their lungs begin to ache. At the same time, discomfort can occur both when exhaling smoke and after smoking. Tobacco contains a huge amount of toxic substances that have a destructive effect on the soft tissues of organs.
Over time, as they accumulate in the respiratory organs, a malignant tumor can develop, which in most cases leads to death. Therefore, if your lungs hurt from smoking, only a specialized specialist can tell you what to do in this case. It is worth going to the hospital and getting an examination.
What effect does tobacco smoke have on internal organs?
Many people have absolutely no idea how smoking affects the human body. However, doctors tirelessly continue to urge everyone to give up this addiction. We have all heard that tobacco smoke negatively affects the functioning of the respiratory system, but what is the mechanism of influence of toxicsubstances?
The lungs contain several million alveoli, which are very small sacs. When a person inhales, they expand, and when exhaling, they narrow. As doctors have established, one cigarette smoked leads to the destruction of one alveolus. Now imagine how many cigars an experienced smoker smokes in his entire life and how many bubbles eventually break down. As a result, the functioning of the respiratory system is disrupted, gas exchange in the lungs deteriorates, and soft tissues receive insufficient oxygen.
What does lung pain mean?
Let's find out more about this. Many people who have dabbled in cigarettes throughout their lives are interested in the question of why the lungs hurt from smoking. The main reason for this manifestation is that nicotine, harmful acids and resins irritate the mucous membrane of the respiratory tract. At the same time, it should be understood that there are no nerve endings in the lungs, therefore, in principle, pain cannot occur.
When nicotine enters the bloodstream, it releases a large amount of adrenaline, resulting in a spasmodic reaction in the blood vessels and an increase in blood pressure. As a result of spasms, a person experiences pain after smoking, which can last for several minutes.
On what factors does the manifestation of pain syndrome depend?
So, we figured out how smoking affects the human body. But what factorsdepends on the degree and intensity of the pain syndrome?
There are quite a few of them, but the main ones are the following:
- pain threshold;
- smoking duration;
- number of cigarettes smoked at a time;
- age category.
It is worth noting that among the above, the main one is the experience of a heavy smoker. The longer he smokes, the more often and more severely his internal organs will hurt.
What causes a pain attack?
Discomfort occurs for the following reasons:
- work of the nephrotransmitter system;
- hormonal background;
- psychological characteristics;
- various vascular diseases.
According to doctors, the lungs hurt after smoking, as a rule, already in the second year of using tobacco products. In this case, discomfort occurs in the chest region, and smokers themselves take this for pulmonary pain. However, in practice, things turn out to be much more complicated than most people realize.
Classification of pain sensations
Pain associated with smoking can be divided into two groups. Namely:
- Pulmonary. Discomfort occurs in the chest region as a result of the destruction of the epithelial tissue that covers the inner walls of the lungs. Violation of its integrity most often occurs in the presence of various diseases of the respiratory system, occurring in a sluggish or acute form. The most common among themare asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, emphysema, bronchitis, or cancer.
- Extrapulmonary. In this case, pain attacks are associated with a malfunction of the cardiovascular system or pathological processes occurring in the gastrointestinal tract. In addition, dysfunction can be caused by a violation of the integrity of the connective tissues of the joints located in the thoracic spine.
Regardless of why the lungs hurt from smoking, and which group the syndrome belongs to, if you are faced with a similar problem, it is recommended that you contact a specialized specialist for a comprehensive examination in order to identify the problem in time and, if necessary, start treatment.
Extrapulmonary factors in the manifestation of pain syndrome
What are they? When answering the question of whether the lungs can hurt from smoking, it is very important to understand the causes of discomfort. If everything is clear with pulmonary factors, they are in the overwhelming majority of cases associated with the destruction of the epithelium, but with extrapulmonary factors everything is much more complicated.
They may be related to the following problems:
- Disruption of the functioning of the central nervous system, caused by the negative effects of neurotoxins on the nerve endings.
- Failures in the work of the cardiovascular system. Tobacco contains a large amount of toxic substances and resins that reduce the elasticity of the arteries, which, in turn, makes it difficult for blood to flow and may evenlead to the development of coronary heart disease.
- Diseases of the digestive system. Nicotine has a negative effect on the functioning of the stomach and gallbladder, and can also lead to the development of cancer, ulcers and gastritis.
If you care about your he alth and want to avoid the diseases listed above, then you should give up this addiction. How to quit smoking will be discussed in the following sections.
How to eliminate an attack of discomfort in the chest area when using tobacco products?
If your lungs hurt from smoking, then you should know how to get rid of the discomfort. The best solution, of course, would be the complete rejection of nicotine, which, in fact, causes discomfort. However, as practice shows, only a small number of people succeed in quitting smoking, since this requires tremendous endurance and iron willpower. Therefore, it is recommended to periodically cleanse the trachea and bronchi from toxic substances contained in tobacco smoke.
According to medical experts, attacks of pain in most cases are associated with inflammatory processes occurring in the soft tissues of the respiratory system. They can be caused by pathological changes in the ciliated epithelium of the lungs, which lead to congestion and abscess.
How to cleanse the lungs of tobacco tar?
When a smoker goes to the hospital, the doctor sends him for examination. During,as a rule, darkening is found in the lungs on x-rays. It is a dark spot, which, in fact, is an accumulation of tobacco tar. As a result, they lead to the development of cancer in smokers. To minimize the likelihood of a malignant tumor, it is necessary to perform some measures aimed at cleansing the lungs of harmful substances.
Doctors recommend doing the following:
- Inhalations with special medicinal decoctions prepared on the basis of fir, mint, chamomile, lavender, juniper and linden. This will reduce the viscosity of the resins and improve their removal from the lungs.
- Breathing exercises. A set of special exercises allows you to get rid of inflammatory processes, reduce pain and improve the elimination of toxic substances from the respiratory tract.
- Proper nutrition. To cleanse your body of the poisons contained in tobacco smoke, you need to eat foods that contain phytoncides. They have an antibacterial effect and have an anti-inflammatory effect, which improves overall well-being, and discomfort in the chest area disappears. Among these products, garlic and onions are considered the best.
It is worth noting that prevention is, of course, great, however, if you have a blackout in the lungs on an x-ray, then it would be best to completely stop using tobacco products, since too much tar in the respiratory organs increases the likelihood of developing oncological diseases, which inmost cases are fatal.
What if the discomfort persists even after quitting nicotine?
If your friends or acquaintances told you how to get rid of smoking, and you still managed to overcome this bad habit, however, the attacks of pain did not disappear anywhere, then you should not immediately panic. The thing is that it takes from three weeks to several months for the body to restore its normal functioning and adapt to functioning without nicotine. Another thing is if six months have passed since quitting smoking, and the discomfort still persists.
This may be a sign that you have various diseases and pathologies, the most common of which are the following:
- hyperventilation;
- low immunity;
- withdrawal syndrome;
- chronic diseases of the respiratory system;
- various pathologies.
All of the above is due to the fact that with prolonged smoking, nicotine becomes an obligatory component of many biological and chemical processes. When a person abruptly abandons a bad habit, the body experiences severe stress, which as a result leads to a decrease in immunity. The weakening of the protective functions creates optimal conditions for the penetration of various viruses and infections into the body. Therefore, if you have begun to lead a he althy lifestyle, then consult your doctor. He will tell you what preventive measures should be taken to support the immune system.and minimize the number of negative manifestations.
When to sound the alarm?
The concern that makes every reason to visit a therapist are certain he alth problems. Here are some of them:
- fainting;
- violation of the rhythm and frequency of the heart;
- pain shock;
- too much weight loss;
- bleeding while coughing;
- severe fatigue;
- bad mouth odor.
If you have even a few of the above syndromes, you should immediately go to the hospital.
How easy is it to quit smoking?
If you seriously decide to get rid of a bad habit, then to make this process much easier, it is best to use specialized medications. To date, "Tabex" from smoking is one of the most effective means to quickly and permanently get rid of nicotine addiction.
It contains the alkaloid cytisine, which in its properties is very close to nicotine, but does not have such a detrimental effect on the body. Thus, you fill the body's need for nicotine without harmful toxins and tar. Over time, the need for cigarettes will disappear altogether, and you will be able to start a he althy lifestyle.
It is worth noting that Tabex has practically no contraindications for smoking, so absolutely all smokers can take it, except for those who suffer from diabetesdiabetes. As for the reviews of medical staff about this drug, doctors note its high efficiency and recommend these pills to anyone who wants to quit smoking.
