But if terminal illness is not enough to reform the hard-core puffer, consider the damage that smoking can do to the smoker's outward appearance and other skin conditions. It is well known that cigarette smoking causes various internal diseases and malignancies. Less well known are the adverse external manifestations.
Smoking causes premature aging and wrinkling of the face.
Numerous studies have been conducted over the years to confirm this. Prominent facial wrinkling was far more common among smokers than nonsmokers, even when taking into account age, sex, and sun-exposure. Facial wrinkling also increased with the number of pack-years smoked. An individual who smokes two packs a day for 20 years, has a 40 pack-year history. Smoking causes a yellow-brown discoloration of the fingernails, usually the fingers that hold the cigarette.