The question of lung recovery always flashes my mind since before I quit smoking. It is always my doubt on whether my lung will recover to a normal healthy non-smoker’s state or not. This is my concern because if my lung will not recovers there is no purpose for me to quit smoking;/ As I google through, it shows that our lung density will recover to at least 80 percent of those non-smokers – it can’t be 100 percent because the damage already been made – better than nothing right?
When you quit smoking, the inflammation in the airways goes down. The little hair-like projections in the airways called cilia, which are paralyzed by smoke begin to work again. So the lungs will get better in weeks to months. Breathing will get better. Exercise capacity will get better. Paradoxically, people find that they cough a little more right after they stop smoking, but that's natural. That's the lungs cleaning themselves out.
