# Smoking and toe pain

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smoking-and-toe-pain/702156>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [October 22, 2014, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smoking-and-toe-pain/702156 "2014-10-22T15:20:53Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\
**Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smoking-and-toe-pain/702156/1 "2014-10-22T15:20:53Z")

</div>

I came back from vacation the first week in September and until the present middle of October my lifestyle had changed dramaticaly. I have been spending a lot more time sitting in front of the computer and smoking about 25% more than I had before my vacation. Almost no excersize.

```
 A few weeks ago I started noticing more numbness and pain in my toes along with redness in the tips. Primarily the big toe but some days it would spread out to adjoining toes. When I cut back on my smoking it seemed to lessen the pain and redness. A few days ago I quit smoking and the pain and redness completely went away. I also picked up my walking but not by much. Just a couple of trips around the block or parking at the far end of parking lots etc. 

```

Is it safe to say that smoking is causing my toe pain or is this confirmation bias. Yestrday I found a pack of cigs and ended up smoking some. Last night the pain and redness started comming back a little. Back to quitting today.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Gus\_Gusterson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/85f322/32.png) [@Gus\_Gusterson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gus_Gusterson)\
**Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smoking-and-toe-pain/702156/2 "2014-10-22T15:37:25Z")

</div>

Sounds like gout. Quitting smoking will definitely help.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\
**Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smoking-and-toe-pain/702156/3 "2014-10-22T15:56:01Z")

</div>

Nicotine is a vasoconstrictor. Any vascular problems?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\
**Post date:** [October 22, 2014, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smoking-and-toe-pain/702156/4 "2014-10-22T16:03:23Z")

</div>

> [@kayaker](#):
>
> Nicotine is a vasoconstrictor. Any vascular problems?

Not aware of any but I am suspecting I have some. I have the risk factors, 66 years old, smoked most of my life, slightly overweight. I also think my hearing may have gotten better when I wasn’t smoking. Back on my non smoking today. I did a hearing test where I had someone tap on a cup to see how far away I could hear the tap. Mine was 4 feet, the normal person I tested with was at least 20 feet. Going to recheck that after a few more days of non smoking.