Hair and nails are vascularised structures, like skin. Where the blood no longer flows well, they suffer — and cigarette smoke is one of their worst enemies. Early balding, accelerated greying, yellow brittle nails: the bill is visible, and largely reversible.

What smoke does to hair

The 'smoker's balding'

Tobacco's effect on balding is particularly clear in men with a genetic predisposition to androgenetic alopecia: smoke accelerates loss where the ground is already there.

In women, the main effects are:

• Less dense hair, finer.

• More marked seasonal shedding.

• Duller hair, less shiny.

• Earlier greying (white hair appearing).

And nails?

Myth vs reality

Recovery after quitting

1. 2 weeks microcirculation restarts, scalp returns to normal colour.
2. 3 months first visible regrowth (new hair grows in a better environment).
3. 6 months nails have almost fully grown out (a nail grows in about 6 months). No more ridges, less yellow.
4. 1-2 years improved hair density, slowed greying.

⚠️ Follicles already destroyed by advanced balding do not come back. Quitting stops the loss but does not regrow fully bald patches.

In United Kingdom

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