Eye Health More Eye Issues & Safety How Does Smoking Affect Your Eyes? By Troy Bedinghaus, OD linkedin Troy L. Bedinghaus, OD, board-certified optometric physician, owns Lakewood Family Eye Care in Florida. He is an active member of the American Optometric Association. Learn about our editorial process Troy Bedinghaus, OD Medically reviewed by Medically reviewed by Johnstone M. Kim, MD on July 12, 2020 Johnstone M. Kim, MD, is board-certified in ophthalmology. He's a practicing physician at Midwest Retina in Dublin, Ohio and previously served as a full-time faculty member at the Wayne State University School of Medicine and the Kresge Eye Institute in Detroit, Michigan. Learn about our Medical Review Board Johnstone M. Kim, MD on July 12, 2020 Print The effects of smoking on your eyes and vision may be significant. You know that smoking tobacco or being exposed to tobacco smoke can cause damage to your health, but it can also increase your risk of developing a number of eye disorders and diseases, including the following. Ingram Publishing / Getty Images Irritated Eyes Much like alcohol affects the eyes, smoking can cause chronic redness of your eyes. Tobacco smoke, even passive smoke inhaled by children, can alter the tear film of eyes, exacerbating dry eye syndrome and allergic eye conditions. Macular Degeneration People who smoke have four times the risk of developing age-related macular degeneration. People who have smoked in the past have three times the risk of having a more severe form of macular degeneration. Cataracts Smoking may increase your risk for developing cataracts, or clouding of the lenses, much earlier and possibly much worse than people who do not smoke. Smoking reduces the supply of antioxidants in our eyes, which may lead to cataracts. Vascular Disease Smoking contributes to the development of arteriosclerosis or hardening of the arteries, that can contribute to or worsen vascular disease of the eyes. Artery and vein occlusion and optic nerve damage could cause significant vision loss or blindness. Thyroid Eye Disease People with thyroid disease are at a much higher risk of developing thyroid eye disease if they smoke tobacco. Graves' disease, the most common form of hyperthyroidism, sometimes causes inflammation and swelling in the soft tissues and muscles that surround the eyes, often causing the eyeballs to bulge or protrude from their sockets. If you are diagnosed with thyroid disease, your physician will most likely recommend that you stop smoking immediately. Optic Neuropathy Smoking decreases blood flow throughout the body, which could result in damage to the optic nerve. Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Sign up for our Health Tip of the Day newsletter, and receive daily tips that will help you live your healthiest life. Sign Up You're in! Thank you, {{form.email}}, for signing up. There was an error. Please try again. What are your concerns? Other Inaccurate Hard to Understand Submit Article Sources Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy. Satici A, Bitiren M, Ozardali I, Vural H, Kilic A, Guzey M. The effects of chronic smoking on the ocular surface and tear characteristics: a clinical, histological and biochemical study. Acta Ophthalmol Scand. 2003;81(6):583-7. doi:10.1111/j.1395-3907.2003.00158.x Velilla S, García-Medina JJ, García-Layana A, et al. Smoking and age-related macular degeneration: review and update. J Ophthalmol. 2013;2013:895147. doi:10.1155/2013/895147 American Academy of Ophthalmology. Smoking and Eye Disease. Updated January 16, 2020. Sawicka-gutaj N, Gutaj P, Sowiński J, et al. Influence of cigarette smoking on thyroid gland--an update. Endokrynol Pol. 2014;65(1):54-62. doi:10.5603/EP.2014.0008