What is Huffing? Side Effects of using Inhalants

Inhalants can impact the brain. When fumes or substances are inhaled through the mouth or nose, they may cause permanent mental and physical damage. 

What is huffing?

To experience a distortion to their senses people inhale fumes, this phenomenon is called huffing. Or you can simply say an act of inhaling aerosol or vapors.  

Inhalants can impact the brain. When fumes or substances are inhaled through the mouth or nose, they may cause permanent mental and physical damage. 

Inhalants include chemicals that can easily be found in some household products such as cleaning fluids, paints, glue, aerosol sprays, amyl nitrite, paint thinner, lighter fuel, and, nail polish remover.

How inhalants affect an individual's life:

Inhalants affect the person’s brain by causing depletion of oxygen in the body as a result, the heart beats rapidly and abnormally. 

The use of inhalants can cause a reduction in the sense of smell, nose bleeding, and nausea, and it may develop kidney, lung, and liver issues. Prolonged use may lead to a reduction in strength, tone, and muscle mass. They also make people feel difficulty in thinking, talking, and, walking. The major damage occurs in the brain tissues due to the sniffing of toxic fumes directly into the sinus. For instance, the toxic chemicals in paints present a euphoric sensation that may cause the user to hallucinate.  

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Side effects of huffing:

Huffing and other inhalants can damage the body, especially the brain. Following are the short-term and long-term side effects of huffing.

Short-term side effects of huffing:

When these inhalants enter the body they replace the oxygen in the lungs and CNS (central nervous system) as a result a person’s death may occur due to suffocation or heart attack. Some people may experience sudden reactions to extreme violence.  

Long-term effects of huffing:

Prolong use of inhalants can lead to a reduction in muscle strength and tone and permanent damage to the brain and the body

Long-term impacts of inhalants include:

• Reduction in muscle mass
• Hearing loss
• Nerves damage
• Reduced strength 
• Liver or kidney damage
• Limb spasm
• Coma 
• Seizures
• Heart failure
• Brain damage
• Death

Most common products used for huffing:

The most common inhalants products used for huffing are 

Aerosols: Hair sprays, deodorant sprays, oil sprays, and spray paints

Solvents: Office or industries supplies such as lighter fluids, glue, gasoline, and paint thinner.

Nitrites: Room odorizers, liquid aromas, and video head cleaner

Gases: Whipped cream aerosols, butane lighters, chloroform, and ether

The most common inhalants products used for huffing.

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Why do people huff?

Due to the short-term effects of inhalants on brain activity, people get addicted to huffing. They generate similar effects to alcohol, such as dizziness, slurred speech, and euphoria, making a person feels woozy and high.  

Who uses the inhalants most?

Teenagers often use inhalants, because they can easily get these kinds of products, especially paint sprays are more popular among teens. Its intense euphoric rush wears off rapidly and may lead to more abuse by young people. Teenagers could also be incapable to control their use despite the harmful outcomes. They need treatment to defeat their addiction.

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