Q: How does smoking affect wound healing on my foot?

A: If you take a thermal image of your hand before a cigarette, the color will be warm shades of orange and red. TWO HOURS after smoking just one cigarette, if you repeat the thermal image, the colors will be cool shades of blue and green. This is from the constriction of the blood vessels in your hand from just one cigarette. The same process happens throughout the body, and it makes healing very difficult. Healing tissues need as much good blood flow as possible.