What stopping smoking can mean for your bones, muscles and joints
Dr Nicola Tik
Most of what you hear about stopping smoking is about your heart and lungs. Your bones, muscles and joints rarely come up, yet they are part of the story too. Whether you have recently stopped, are cutting down or are thinking about it, the changes here can be some of the most encouraging.
Your bones, tendons and the discs in your spine are constantly being repaired, and that work depends on a good blood supply. Smoking narrows blood vessels, makes the blood more likely to clot, and slows the cells that build new tissue, including collagen, which gives your tissues their strength. Smoking is also linked with lower bone density.
Researchers think these effects explain much of the link between smoking and slower healing. The encouraging part is that circulation is one of the first things to start recovering once you stop.
The difference smoking makes is clearest when the body needs to heal. A large review of fracture studies found that broken bones in people who smoked took around six weeks longer to heal on average. Smokers were also more likely to have a bone that did not heal fully. Another review put that risk at roughly twice as high.
This is one reason surgeons often encourage people to stop smoking before an operation. Better blood flow gives your body more of what it needs to repair itself.
Smoking is also linked with back pain and changes in the discs of the spine. One study followed more than 5,000 people being treated for back problems. Those who stopped smoking during their care reported clearer improvements in their pain than those who carried on. People who kept smoking saw little change, whatever treatment they had.
This kind of study cannot prove that stopping caused the improvement. But it fits with what researchers know about how smoking affects the body’s repair work, and it is an encouraging sign.
Some changes start soon after stopping. As circulation improves, more oxygen reaches your muscles, and many people find exercise feels easier as their breathing improves. Bone and tissue health tends to build more slowly, over months and years, as your body’s repair work gets back up to speed.
That means the benefits keep growing the longer you stay smoke-free.
Movement is one of the best ways to help your bones and muscles make the most of these changes. Bones and muscles both get stronger when you use them. Some options to try: