Smoking, Vaping, and Your Foot Health

Name: Foot and Ankle Associates of Cleveland
Address: 33790 Bainbridge Road Suite 201,, Solon, OH, 44139, US
Telephone: (440) 903-1041

May 24, 2021

Smoking is at an all-time low in the United States. That’s not a huge surprise since we’re taught cigarettes cause breathing problems, heart disease, and lung cancer at a very early age. Gone are those “Mad Men” days of the 1960s when everyone was constantly lighting up a cigarette at home, at the office, sitting at a bar, or in a restaurant.

Fast forward to the 2021 HBO series “Mare of Easttown,” where Kate Winslet’s character frequently puffs on a vape pen when she’s not smoking a cigarette. What’s the message there? Is vaping better than smoking? The answer is “no.” In honor of World No-Tobacco Day, we’re here to recommend you stay away from all kinds of smoking – both traditional cigarettes and e-cigarettes.

When you smoke or vape, you’re ingesting chemicals that affect more than just your heart and lungs. Smoking also threatens your foot health. Here’s how:

Smoking damages your blood vessels. It’s one of the chief causes of peripheral arterial disease, which is when the walls of the vessels leading to your feet become thick. There’s less space for blood to flow freely. Legs get tired quickly. Simple cuts can turn into dangerous, non-healing ulcers because they’re not receiving enough blood.
Venous stasis is another consequence – when the valves in your veins don’t allow blood to flow back up to the heart. Blood pools in your lower limbs, causing swelling and pain.
These insufficiencies in your blood vessels can result in foot inflammation, numbness, pain, and difficulty walking. In the worst cases, infections can become so bad that lower limb amputation is a real possibility.

Our experienced podiatric surgeons, Dr. Craig B. Frey and Dr. Megan L. Oltmann, can help smokers and vapers who have symptoms in their lower legs. Call Foot & Ankle Associates of Cleveland in Solon, Ohio at (440) 903-1041 or contact us online to schedule a consultation. We offer a modern office with the latest technology for podiatric patients in Portage, Geauga, Cuyahoga, and Summit Counties, proudly serving our patients from Solon, Aurora, Bedford, Chagrin Falls, Hudson, Macedonia, and Twinsburg.

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