A young woman has joked she is “24 going on 74” after 18 months of vaping gave her a string of unpleasant symptoms.
Georgia Maiy Flitney was experiencing breathing issues and feeling generally unfit after over a year of puffing on the flavoured e-cigarettes, but a visit to her dermatologist stopped her in her tracks.
During the recent appointment, Georgia was horrified when the skin specialist told her that her bad habit was “slowly killing her” – and was causing dark circles and poorer skin quality.
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She shared the moment she received the shocking news on TikTok, in a post which has gone viral with 3.2 million views.
“I was shocked,” the clothing business owner, from Hertfordshire, told Need To Know.
“I knew the health risks deep down, but they are not made obvious enough when buying, like with cigarettes.
“I have stopped and it has put me off of vaping.
“But it’s so hard – they are ridiculously addictive.
“If the flavour was horrible I would find it easier, as I’m sure many would, but they have so many appealing flavours.
“It’s worse for kids who don’t understand and are impressionable.
“Disposable vapes should absolutely be banned.
“But I also think vapes should have a bland or unpleasant flavour, to help deter people from using them.”
It was during a routine visit with Georgia’s dermatologist, Dr Katya in London, last month that detected the issue.
Georgia explained: “I had noticed I had dark under eyes and bad skin quality at just 24.
“Under eyes make an insane difference to your face, and mine had changed considerably since vaping.
“I felt my skin had aged rapidly and [vaping] was ageing me significantly quicker.”
There, the specialist told her the horrifying effects the habit was having on her.
She said: “She told me that vaping affects the capillaries and veins so much that it can make them more visible – which makes the skin look worse, not to mention how bad it is for your lungs and body in general.”
Georgia had been having regular “costly” appointments with the dermatologist for five years – and says vaping has “undone all of the amazing progress” made.
She added: “Dr Katya has also helped me with sun damage in the past from sunbeds – another normalised dangerous habit.
“Sunbeds are normalised, vaping has no danger warnings – so who’s to help guide the younger generation?
“Without visiting my dermatologist regularly, I would likely be ruining my body without even knowing it.”
Georgia is now undergoing frequent treatments with the skin specialist to reverse the effects of vaping on her skin and hasn’t vaped since the appointment in mid-October.
She said: “She gave me two pieces of advice: stop vaping altogether, and complete a course of skin boosters and laser treatments which can help subside the effects of vapes on the capillaries and veins in the face.”
