Many smokers face a problem when, after several years of this harmful exercise, their lungs begin to hurt. At the same time, unpleasant sensations 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 are sick from smoking, what to do in this case can only be suggested by a specialized specialist. It is worth going to the hospital and undergoing 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 abandon this addiction. We have all heard that tobacco smoke adversely affects the functioning of the respiratory system, but what is the mechanism of the influence of toxic substances?
There are several million alveoli in the lungs, which are very small vesicles. When a person takes a breath, they expand, and when they exhale, they narrow. As the doctors found, one smoked cigarette leads to the destruction of one alveoli. Now imagine how many cigars a smoker smokes with experience in his entire life and how many bubbles eventually collapse. As a result, the functioning of the respiratory system is impaired, gas exchange in the lungs deteriorates, and the soft tissues receive insufficient oxygen.
What can pain in the lungs mean?
Let's find out more about this. Many people who 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. It should be understood that there are no nerve endings in the lungs, so pain can not occur in principle.
Once in the blood, nicotine leads to the release of a large amount of adrenaline, as a result of which a spastic reaction occurs in blood vessels and blood pressure rises. As a result of cramping, a person experiences pain after smoking, which can last for several minutes.
What factors determine the manifestation of pain?
So, we figured out how smoking affects the human body. But what factors determine the degree and intensity of the onset of pain?
There are quite a lot of them, but the main ones are the following:
- threshold of pain sensitivity;
- duration of smoking;
- the number of cigarettes smoked at a time;
- age category.
It is worth noting that among the above, the main one is precisely the experience of the heavy smoker. The longer he smokes, the more often and more his internal organs will hurt.
What causes a pain attack?
Uncomfortable sensations arise for the following reasons:
- operation of the nephromediation system;
- hormonal background;
- psychological features;
- various diseases of blood vessels.
According to doctors, the lungs hurt after smoking, as a rule, already in the second year of tobacco use. In this case, discomfort occurs in the chest area, and smokers themselves take it for pulmonary pain. However, in practice, everything turns out to be much more complicated than most people assume.
Classification of pain
The pain syndrome 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, proceeding in a lethargic or acute form. The most common among them are asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, emphysema, bronchitis, or cancer.
- Extrapulmonary. In this case, attacks of pain are associated with impaired functioning of the cardiovascular system or pathological processes that occur 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 encounter a similar problem, it is recommended to consult a profiled specialist to undergo a comprehensive examination in order to identify the problem in time and start treatment if necessary.
Extrapulmonary factors of manifestation of pain
What are they like? When answering the question of whether the lungs can hurt from smoking, it is very important to understand the causes of discomfort. If with pulmonary factors everything is clear, they are in the vast majority of cases associated with the destruction of the epithelium, but with extrapulmonary things are much more complicated.
They may be related to the following problems:
- Disruption of the central nervous system, caused by the negative effects of neurotoxins on nerve endings.
- Malfunctions of the cardiovascular system. Tobacco contains a large number of toxic substances and resins, which reduce the elasticity of the arteries, which, in turn, impedes blood flow and can even lead to the development of coronary heart disease.
- Digestive system diseases. Nicotine has a negative effect on the functioning of the stomach and gall bladder, and can also lead to the development of cancer, ulcers and gastritis.
If you care about your health and want to avoid the above diseases, then you should abandon this addiction. How to quit smoking will be described in the following sections.
How to eliminate an attack of discomfort in the chest area when using tobacco products?
If your lungs are sore from smoking, then you should know how to get rid of discomfort. The optimal solution, of course, will be a complete rejection of nicotine, which, in fact, causes unpleasant sensations. However, as practice shows, only a small number of people manage to quit smoking, since this requires enormous exposure 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, bouts of pain in most cases are associated with inflammatory processes that occur in the soft tissues of the respiratory system. They can be caused by pathological changes in the ciliary epithelium of the lungs, which lead to stagnant processes and abscesses.
How to clear the lungs of tobacco tar?
When a smoker goes to the hospital, the doctor sends him for examination. In the process, as a rule, blackout is detected in the lungs on an x-ray. 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 the following:
- Inhalation 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 excretion from the lungs.
- Breathing exercises. A set of special exercises allows you to get rid of inflammatory processes, reduce pain and improve the removal of toxic substances from the respiratory tract.
- Proper nutrition. To cleanse your body of poisons contained in tobacco smoke, you must eat foods that contain volatile. They have an antibacterial effect and have an anti-inflammatory effect, thereby improving overall well-being, as well as discomfort in the chest area. Among these products, garlic and onions are considered the best.
It is worth noting that prevention is, of course, great, however, if you had a blackout in your lungs on an X-ray, it would be best to completely stop using tobacco products, since too much resin in the respiratory system increases the likelihood of developing cancer which in most cases are fatal.
What to do if the discomfort persists even after quitting nicotine?
If friends or acquaintances told you how to quit smoking, and yet you were able to overcome this bad habit, however, the bouts of pain have not disappeared, then you should not immediately panic. The thing is that the body, in order to restore its normal functioning and adapt to functioning without nicotine, takes from three weeks to several months. Another thing is if six months have passed after quitting smoking, and discomfort still persists.
This may be a sign that you have various diseases and pathologies, the most common of which are the following:
- hyperventilation of the lungs;
- 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 essential 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 protective functions creates optimal conditions for the penetration of various viruses and infections into the body. Therefore, if you began to lead a healthy lifestyle, then consult a 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?
A cause for concern, which creates every reason for visiting the therapist, is certain health problems. Here is some of them:
- fainting
- violation of the rhythm and frequency of the heart;
- painful shock;
- too much weight loss;
- blood discharge during coughing;
- fatigue;
- bad breath from the mouth.
If there are even several of the above syndromes, you should immediately go to the hospital.
How easy is it to quit smoking?
If you seriously decided to get rid of a bad habit, then to make this process go 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 cytisine alkaloid, which in its properties is very similar 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 resins. Over time, the need for cigarettes will disappear completely, and you can begin a healthy lifestyle.
It is worth noting that “Tabex” from smoking has practically no contraindications, therefore, it can be taken by absolutely all smokers, with the exception of those who suffer from diabetes. As for the reviews of medical staff about this drug, doctors note its high effectiveness and recommend these pills to anyone who wants to quit smoking.