How long does it take for the lungs to clear up after quitting smoking?
Your lungs will never be as good as they were if you haven`t smoked. However, they do recover a high degree of functionality and, given two or three years, you might stop sounding like a smoker. In the beginning there is a lot of rubbish to get rid of – and you may sound worse than when you smoked. However, over the longer term and assuming you help your lungs – by exercising sensibly (just out of breath exercise is great and aim for 20 minutes) – you will find that you are breathing much better and fel better. It all depends on the state of your lungs when you give up. I used to smoke 5 – 10 cigars a day (and inhale them too). 15 years on and I have run half marathons and feel great most of the time, though a bout of cancer didn`t help. Even so, I am pretty healthy again. You will proably never get a definitive answer – it`s just not possible. However, stopping will improve your breathing (though maybe not your weight) enormously. Just do it and stick at it. Apart from the thousands o
