Smoker's Wrinkles

A simple method of grading the severity of facial skin wrinkling is described. It can be rapidly learned and easily used by untrained students. In a study of 1,104 subjects the severity of wrinkling correlated with a history of habitual cigarette smoking, after adjustment for age and outdoor exposure. The association between cigarette smoking and wrinkling was striking in both sexes soon after age 30, was related to the duration and intensity of cigarette smoking, and was more pronounced than was the association between wrinkling and admitted outdoor exposure. Smokers in the 40- to 49-year age group were as likely to be prominently wrinkled as nonsmokers who were 20 years older.