As we all know, smoking is a most unattractive habit. It makes people less attractive in many ways, including the smell. Not to mention, the drying-out and premature wrinkling of the skin, and bad breath. Smokers often have ash on their clothes. In addition to all that, one of the unpleasant outward tell-tale signs of smoking is the yellow/brown nicotine stains on hands and nails. Although in actual fact they are caused not from the nicotine (which is a clear substance) but from the tar in cigarettes, it is a residue from this sticky brown chemical. Apparently tar is one of the chemicals in cigarettes which is the most dangerous to health. It is certainly not a pretty sight, is it?
Yellow or brownish fingers are not just cosmetically unsightly, but they may also indicate a fungal infection. Smokers are far more likely to get these types of infections, as smoking affects the circulation to the extremities, like fingers and toes. Even worse than that, yellowed fingers can also be an indicator of lung disease, which is known medically as "yellow nail syndrome." This can arise as a result of a genetic disorder, or due to the lungs being adversely affected by smoking.
In my previous life as a smoker, I never got stains on my fingers as I never smoked that heavily. But I have known quite a lot of people with that those tell-tale yellow marks. They are hard to remove, but people say you can get them off by scrubbing with salt and lemon juice (or better still, giving up smoking!)
There is also another way to remove these stains, and it will probably gross you out, so brace yourselves! A friend told me about this the other day (and I confirmed it by doing an Internet search). My friend said her Dad used to be a heavy smoker. He also used to make nice apple pies, and said once:
"Making pastry is great for getting the nicotine stains off my fingers!"
Ewwww! I wouldn't have wanted to eat any of his apple pies! This is what I also found out via the Internet. Someone else said that making bread is a good way of removing these stains. It really makes me wish that all bakers and chefs were non-smokers!
Hope you got something from this blog, and I appreciate your votes and comments.
Picture courtesy of www.puff.com