If You Quit Smoking Will Your Lungs Ever Return To How They Where Before You Smoked?

Im 21 years old and have been smoking since i was 14. I have just recently quit and am wondering if my lungs will ever get back to the same health as someone who has never smoked or will they just get better but never 100% ?
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31 Responses to “If You Quit Smoking Will Your Lungs Ever Return To How They Where Before You Smoked?”
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August 30th, 2009 at 8:49 pm
My dad after 20 years of smoking packed in & he always said he felt a lot healthier & could breath better.
August 31st, 2009 at 1:28 am
First of all, congrats on your decision to quit smoking! I quit not long ago myself, and feel much better for it already!
Not to the answer… Your lung tissue is constantly regenerating itself, just like any other tissue in your body.
If you quit smoking today, then your lungs should have almost completely regenerated by the time you are 28 years old. Now that’s not to say there couldn’t be other damage from smoking that will not be recovered by that point in time. Smoking is harmful to more than just your lung tissue. It can also cause problems with your heart, circulation, etc.
The earlier in your life you quit smoking, the better! Great job on deciding to leave such a harmful habit behind you.
Good luck!
August 31st, 2009 at 5:06 am
yes they do
Quitting tobacco improves our health almost immediately. Physical improvements continue for years after we quit smoking. Between 2 weeks and 3 months, improvements to circulation, stamina, and lung function are evident.
When you quit smoking, the benefits begin within minutes of your last cigarette.
At 20 minutes after quitting:
Blood pressure decreases
Pulse rate drops
Body temperature of hands and feet increases.
At 8 hours:
Carbon monoxide level in blood drops to normal
Oxygen level in blood increases to normal
At 24 hours:
Chance of a heart attack decreases
At 48 hours:
nerve endings begin regrowth
ability to smell and taste improves
August 31st, 2009 at 10:26 am
Your smoking history sounds EXACTLY like mine, and, when I decided to quit, I did, and soon found myself initiating a gradually increasing running regimen, beginning with maybe a quarter mile, and then slowly increasing to several miles, and then, I returned to my youthful joy of bicycling, except this time I had much better 10-speeds, and, over time, kept enjoying the sport so much that I was encouraged to buy an exclusively expensive 10-speed (12-speed actually) and raced on the novice circuit for a while until I just devoted my time to riding alone on rides of AT LEAST 30 miles a day on week days after work, 45/75/100 miles a day on the Friday/Saturday/Sunday stretch, with an occasional 200 mile daily trek. And did I have any trouble breathing? HAH!!! And I had the healthiest heart and lungs around, as the local doctors kept oohing and aahhing about at their annual health fairs. Did I get back to 100%? No. 150 – 200%? Damn right I did, and you can too, if you want. So put the trash down and begin reviving yourself. You’ll be surprised what your body can do when you want it to. After all, look at all the drugs and smoke people keep shoving down it, and it “keeps on ticking”. Go in the right / healthy direction. You’ll be very glad you did. God Bless you.
August 31st, 2009 at 5:07 pm
It does not.
After Alot ot research i have done.
I have come to find out, if you smoke at a young age, your lungs do get more damaged since they havent developed fully,
and also , your lungs will be better, but not 100%.
when i say better i mean that you will see you have more stamina and more lung capacity.
Do you have asthma?
If you do, smoking makes it even worse.
So dont smoke if you have asthma either.
August 31st, 2009 at 11:28 pm
I personally believes
your lungs will get back as if you never smoked before coz our body have a good protection system, as long as you never had an experience with a severe lungs diseases. Just quit smoke now, do regular exercise, healthy foods, good nutritions, healthy life style then your lungs will be back 100% OK!!
September 1st, 2009 at 2:06 am
20 minutes after quitting
Your.heart.rate.drops.
12 hours after quitting
The.carbon.monoxide.level.in.your.bloo… to.normal..
2 weeks to 3 months after quitting
Your.heart.attack.risk.begins.to.drop.… function.begins.to.improve..
1 to 9 months after quitting
Your.coughing.and.shortness.of.breath.…
1 year after quitting
Your.added.risk.of.coronary.heart.dise… of.a.smoker’s..
5 years after quitting
Your.stroke.risk.is.reduced.to.that.of… 5–15.years.after.quitting..
10 years after quitting
Your.lung.cancer.death.rate.is.about.h… a.smoker’s..
15 years after quitting
Your.risk.of.coronary.heart.disease.is… a.nonsmoker’s.
September 1st, 2009 at 5:55 am
yes your lungs will regenerate themselves, depending on how long you smoke for, you say about 7-8 years, at an educated guess id say to reach there 100 percent efficiency will take you roughly about 6 or 7 years, but every day that you don’t smoke increases your live expectancy, if you work out regular and give your lungs a good work out 2 or three times a week will help you to.
September 1st, 2009 at 9:17 am
No, but you will notice a vast improvement overtime. However the human body is very remarkable and can recover from almost anything you throw at it. So they will certainly not be in the same condition as when you stopped smoking but no not 100% better.
September 1st, 2009 at 1:31 pm
At your age a good guide to lung recovery is 2 years plus one year for each year you smoke, up to 10 years, if they haven’t fully recovered in 10 years they probably won’t, you will notice a huge difference in a very short time, a few months
September 1st, 2009 at 5:57 pm
If you stop smoking it decreases your chances of lung cancer or a heart attack. It’ll take some time, it doesn’t just happen like that. It takes some months maybe years, but your lungs slowly go back to their normal, healthy selves.
September 1st, 2009 at 6:24 pm
There is little improvement. Your lungs may improve a small chance but never a full recovery.
I had a friend who smoked since he was 15 (now a non-smoker) and is now finding complications with his heart and lungs.
September 1st, 2009 at 6:29 pm
Apparntly yes they do after time. Good luck on keeping from smoking
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September 1st, 2009 at 8:24 pm
as the damage has already been done you won’t ever get your lungs back into the condition as they were before you started smoking however by quitting they will improve considerably and as you’re still young you will reap the benefits.
September 1st, 2009 at 11:49 pm
i don’t think they will ever get back to 100% but they sure will feel like they got back over 100% because you probably don’t remember what it feels like but you sure will remember what they felt like when you were smoking
September 2nd, 2009 at 2:26 am
My grandpa smoked for over 30 years, he quit cold turkey one day. 7 years later, he has emphysema. It could be because of the damage after 30 years was not reversable.
Good Luck.
You are saving your life…
September 2nd, 2009 at 2:47 am
I’m not an expert, but they say as soon as you stop smoking your lungs start repairing them selves. And if you can keep off the weed, they will return to normal in about six years.
September 2nd, 2009 at 4:56 am
i read somewhere that within 6 monthes they are back to pink as long as you haven’t done permanent damage i.e cancer, emphysema, etc.
September 2nd, 2009 at 5:37 am
After a while they may recover, but probably never 100%.
September 2nd, 2009 at 6:28 am
Depends on how often you smoked. If you just smoked every once in a while then they would.
September 2nd, 2009 at 12:44 pm
No, they will not. But they will recover. Not as the same, but it’s better after all than smoking!
September 2nd, 2009 at 7:29 pm
I was told in health that if you do not come in contact with tobacco smoke for 10 whole years, even at bars or whatever, your lungs will return to their original baby pink color. start now!
September 3rd, 2009 at 12:22 am
apparently they do…don’t know if it’s 100% but it definitely gets better.
September 3rd, 2009 at 2:05 am
Yes, they recover after 8 years.
September 3rd, 2009 at 4:37 am
ummmm….maybe but it will take a looooooooonggggg time!
September 3rd, 2009 at 5:11 am
Ive heard they do
September 3rd, 2009 at 11:27 am
ye 6 years theyl b same as if u never did
September 3rd, 2009 at 6:26 pm
they will get better, but not completely better
September 3rd, 2009 at 8:50 pm
tbh they obviously wont go back to 100% but yea your still young so there bound to
September 3rd, 2009 at 9:29 pm
it gets better but they dont recover 100%
September 4th, 2009 at 3:05 am
nope