On and off throughout her college years, 23-year-old Megan McTigue vaped nicotine. She tried to quit multiple times, but couldn't quite kick the habit.
"I've tried nicotine pouches to wean off of the inhalation aspect, lollipops to help with oral fixation, and signed up for one of the text services that sends you frequent reminders and tips on how to quit," Megan told BuzzFeed. "I had thrown out my own device probably two or three times, but ended up buying another weeks or months after."
Megan threw out her JUUL in December and has only vaped occasionally since then. This change in behavior was partially motivated by a recent medical scare. "I had been having general lower back soreness probably since late high school, but in the past 2–3 months, I had fully thrown out my back to the point where it was really painful to stand/walk/bend over," she said. "I knew that shouldn't really be happening for someone my age who's in relatively good physical health."
She went to see an orthopedic doctor who specializes in spine issues, and she got both an MRI and X-ray. "When the doctor looked at my MRI, he noted that my three lower discs were slightly degenerated. While my upper discs appeared white and thicker in the MRI, my three lower ones were almost black and significantly thinner," Megan said. Here's a labeled image:
"This may or may not have been my personal cause for my back issues, but he said it could definitely contribute, especially if I already had risk factors like a family history of back issues," Megan said. "He urged me to stop vaping for that reason."
For more insight into the relationship between nicotine and degenerating discs, BuzzFeed reached out to Dr. Colin Haines, spine surgeon and director of research at the Virginia Spine Institute, as well as Dr. Georgiy Brusovanik, minimally invasive spine and orthopedic surgeon at the Miami Back & Neck Specialists.
Both doctors confirmed that there is a proven relationship between nicotine use and disc degeneration. "Animal and clinical studies have been performed showing a high statistical correlation," Dr. Brusovanik said.
Dr. Haines dug into the science of this correlation. "Nicotine causes vasoconstriction, or the shrinking of blood vessels. Blood vessels circulate the blood throughout our bodies, carrying oxygen and nutrients. A reduced blood supply to an area results in a reduction of oxygen delivery. In addition, nicotine creates an acidic environment inside the discs which leads to disc degeneration," he said.
Dr. Brusovanik and Dr. Haines said there can be an impact on disc health from both occasional and long-term nicotine use. "Nicotine is a toxin that causes these issues with every exposure. However, the longer the exposure, the more damage that is done. It has both an immediate and a cumulative effect," Dr. Haines said.
Unfortunately, Dr. Brusovanik said there's "a minimal improvement in health of the disc with smoking cessation." But stopping as soon as possible can help prevent further degeneration. "Quit, quit, quit!" Dr. Haines said. "Quit the nicotine exposure. No matter how long the nicotine use was prior to quitting, it helps tremendously."
