Can the Doctor tell if you Smoke?

Maybe, unless you're smart about it. Here's how: First, make an early morning appointment, and do not smoke prior to seeing the Doc. Have your teeth cleaned several days before your appointment. One week prior, start scraping your tongue, removing all that stuff that accumulates (coffee, cigarettes, and the like). The front of a spoon works well. Your tongue should be pink (helps with bad breath too). On the day of the exam, brush your teeth for about five minutes prior to taking a shower. Wash your hair completely, as smoke tends to linger in your scalp. After that, brush your teeth again for about five minutes, and use a mouth wash after that. Then (believe it or not) gargle with orange juice (citrus eliminates smoke all together). Brush you teeth one more time and rinse with water. Also, wash your hands with lemon juice (bottled is OK), which will erase any signs of nicotine stains on your fingernails (yeah, look at them ... they're brown, aren't they?). Finally (very important), when the Doc asks how you are, tell him your have the sniffles, thus planting the seed that when he listens to your lungs and hears a bunch of racket, you can claim a cold or allergies. Or of course, you can quit smoking and avoid this nonsense.

Why would you want to hide an important health care fact from the very person who can help you avoid an early and painful death?

I have news for you, a good medical professional will always know if you smoke no matter what you do to try to hide it, cover it up or whatever. We are trained to know, it's our job, lol.

Mashie

Many years ago my late father had an annual physical at which the doctor, having felt the strength of his pulse at his extremeties, correctly said "you don't smoke, do you?"

As a separate matter, I can't imagine why anyone who is going to lie to a doctor about such an important factor in their current and future health would bother to go to a doctor in the first place.

When I did my initial EMT training some 35+ years ago, and did the hands portion in the emergency room at a Naval Hospital, there was this Navy Corpsman there who could look at your EKG, and not only tell whether you smoke or not, but also how heavy of a smoker you are, or for that matter if you had quit, how heavy of a smoker you were before you quit. Smoking is something that stays with you, like almost forever!

WET, I can relate to that. I used to smoke. Stopped. Climbed every snow capped peak in the Northwest and southern British Columbia. Climbed Mt Hood twenty six times; twice solo and spent the night on top. Ten years later, I was managing a large medical thoracic clinic when we hired a new young upstart thoracic pulmonary physician . In taking him around the clinic, he wanted to try out some of the equipment. Hooked me up to a special piece of pulmonary equipment and promptly announced "you used to smoke". Magic.

There was an interesting satirical take on this during last Sunday's FAMILY GUY. Yes, it's satire, but it's based in reality.

Smokers get changes in their skin, hair and nails that are obvious to the trained observer.

Inspecting your fingers may be revealing so as teeth, the auscultation will probably also be revealing

A smoker smell at 30 feets away, clothes, teethes, fingers, breath, when wife or son who are non-smokers come back home after a meeting where smokers were, I can smell that odour from very far ! All non smokers have the same sensitivity to that specific smoke odour, so different from fire wood, so different from BBQ.

Cigarettes smell a mix of grass smoke, amoniac who is used to make you addicted, cupper, and chemistries !

Stopped smoking 36 years ago, and I was close from 50 cigarettes a day ! It takes me 2 years to stop completely, no issue from stopping, the weightscale added 20 Lbs and I reached 150 Lbs for 5 Feets 5" (1.75 meter)

Hide your smoke addiction to the doctor is funny, you can't hide it to cancer ! You voluntary for !

For your life stop smoking !

I'm not a doctor, but I can listen to a person 's chest with my stethoscope and tell whether she smokes, plus I smell it.

This is my personal plea to those who are reading this thread with a cigarette in their fingers: please let the posts here be the final boost you need to get you to finally quit forever.

Hugs,

Diane

Sounds like the OP is wanting to con the doctor for an insurance scam. maybe get a lower premium on a policy.

news for the OP: if you make a serous claim with anything remotely possibly related to smoking the insurance company is likely to make checks to checks before paying. you are likely to be caught out.

quit smoking or cough up for the larger premiums.

You are absolutely correct Dr Dan!

I know of cases where people's claims have been rejected, their application for health insurance rejected - all on account of lying about being a smoker.

The fact may slip by the insurance company's medical examination. They live with it and the lower premium they collect.

However, when they scrutinize the claim later, much later, they reject it on account of it being a pre-existing condition which was not disclosed.

Either way, my earnest suggestions to everyone would be:

- don't lie about being a smoker to any medical professional - they are there to help you

- please make every effort to kick the habit

- live healthy and let everyone else live healthy too!

Fraud is fraud. When it comes to being dishonest and withholding information, it is considered fraud with insurance, especially if it is discovered by them. When I have applied for Life insurance, medical insurance, I have been rejected for having asthma and arthritis. I was upfront about it. Just like auto insurance, homeowners insurance companies make their records on you available to new companies you apply with. Life insurance, medical insurance, it also happens with this insurance when you consent to have a background check and release of records of your providers to them.

As others have stated, even if you quit smoking, the physical consequences stay with you the rest of your life with varying degrees of severity and damage per how long you smoked, how much, etc.