Quitting smoking and tobacco is an important part of your surgical care and treatment. Read below to learn how smoking and tobacco can affect your recovery after surgery, and how quitting can improve your health.
How can smoking and using tobacco before and after my surgery affect my health?
Smoking and using tobacco before and after your surgery can:
- Delay healing
- Make your recovery time longer
- Increase your chance of complications after surgery
How will quitting help me recover from my surgery?
Quitting smoking and using tobacco before and after your surgery can:
- Help your body recover and respond to your surgery better
- Help you heal faster
- Reduce your chance of complications after your surgery
- Reduce the time you will need to stay in the hospital
How can my health care team help me quit?
Your health care team will ask you to give details about your smoking history. You will be asked to do this whether you are a smoker or not.
Your health care team will help you:
- Understand how smoking may affect your recovery from your surgery
- Learn about the support services and resources that may be helpful to you (if you choose to quit)
- Connect right away to the support services that are right for you
You can ask a member of your health care team at any time for information on support services and resources to help you quit smoking.
There are a number of
programs and services available at UHN and in the community to help you quit smoking.
