"Nicotine is so hard to quit": Selena Gomez revealed Sunday that she had quit vaping, opening up about the difficulty of staying nicotine-free. In a video posted to her Instagram story, the 34-year-old singer and actress attributed changes in her voice to heavy nicotine vaping and offered a warning to those struggling with addiction or considering taking up the habit: "It's just not worth it."
"I'm not gonna be able to change my voice. I vaped nicotine a lot," she said. "It's so stupid and it changed my voice." She added jokingly: "So if you guys don't like listening to my voice, that's totally understandable. I don't mind. Just don't listen to it."
'It's just not worth it': Selena Gomez opens up about vaping
(Video: Selena Gomez's Instagram)
Despite the difficulties, Gomez expressed relief at having quit and hope that she could stay nicotine-free. "I am really excited because I stopped and I just hope I can keep it up," she said in the Instagram story, describing the process as "really hard." She ended with an encouraging message to her fans: "I know if you are going through something you can get through it too."
'Severe dependence from a very young age'
The difficulty of quitting e-cigarettes is linked not only to nicotine but also to the habits associated with vaping. Dr. Emilia Hardak, a pulmonologist with Maccabi Healthcare Services in northern Israel, explains that alongside nicotine addiction, users develop a psychological dependence on the act of vaping and the sense of relaxation it provides.
"People get caught in a cycle of addiction and psychological dependence on the physical action itself, on smoking and on the relaxation that follows," she says. According to Hardak, this dependence makes quitting both conventional cigarettes and e-cigarettes difficult, with the willingness to quit playing a central role in the process.
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'I am really excited because I stopped and I just hope I can keep it up.' Selena Gomez
(Photo: Featureflash Photo Agency / Shutterstock)
Hardak is particularly concerned about the dependence developing among children and teenagers who begin using e-cigarettes.
"We see children hiding their vaping and using these devices during classes, at movie theaters and in other places. They develop severe dependence at a very young age," she says. "I see teenagers vaping everywhere. It's become a real epidemic."
Britain is also grappling with rising e-cigarette use among people who have never smoked. According to figures from Britain's Office for National Statistics cited in a BBC report, approximately 1.1 million e-cigarette users in Britain reported that they had never smoked. Nearly one in six adults ages 25 to 34 vape either daily or occasionally.
The potential health risks of vaping
Hardak explains that substances inhaled through e-cigarettes can trigger inflammation and damage lung tissue.
"These substances can be toxic and cause noninfectious inflammation of the lungs," she says. She also points to concerns about the development of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), emphasizing that the risk of lung cancer remains unclear.
E-cigarette use can lead to dependence on both nicotine and the act of vaping itself
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Despite the uncertainty, studies have produced troubling findings. A study published in Nature Medicine examined data from more than 4.5 million former smokers in South Korea. Among those who used e-cigarettes, researchers found a 56% higher risk of lung cancer and a 22% higher risk of death from any cause compared with former smokers who did not use them.
Another study, published in the American Journal of Ophthalmology, found an association between the use of noncombustible nicotine products after quitting smoking and an increased risk of eye diseases.
A review published in the journal Carcinogenesis, which we reported on in April, examined hundreds of studies and found evidence of DNA damage, inflammation and other biological changes associated with cancer development following exposure to e-cigarette vapor. Animal studies also identified lung tumors.
However, long-term data are still insufficient to quantify the cancer risk in humans, and the findings do not establish that e-cigarettes are as dangerous as conventional cigarettes.
Dr. Emilia HardakPhoto: Maccabi Healthcare Services The concerns extend beyond the lungs. Hardak also points to potential effects on brain development and the cardiovascular system, including increased heart rate and blood pressure. Adding to these concerns is uncertainty about the composition of chemicals and additives in some vaping products.
The mouth, throat and vocal cords are also exposed to these substances. Hardak explains that exposure can cause inflammation of the vocal cords, impair their function and alter the voice. In some cases, she says, the changes may be irreversible.
This is one possible mechanism through which vaping could damage the voice, but Gomez's remarks alone are not enough to establish what caused the changes in hers.
The possibility of recovery after quitting depends on how long and how heavily a person has vaped, Hardak says.
"In some cases, there can be improvement," she says, "but some damage is irreversible."
Less harmful, but not risk-free
According to Britain's National Health Service (NHS), as cited by the BBC, nicotine vaping is less harmful than smoking conventional cigarettes, but its long-term effects remain unclear. People who do not smoke are advised not to start vaping.
Even people who have never smoked can develop nicotine dependence through vaping
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Professor Sarah Jackson of the Tobacco and Alcohol Research Group at University College London told the BBC that it is important to distinguish between people who might otherwise have started smoking cigarettes but chose vaping instead and those who would not have used nicotine at all if e-cigarettes were unavailable.
For the first group, she explained, vaping may steer people away from a more harmful behavior. For the second, it introduces a risk that would not otherwise have existed.
Jackson pointed to a 2024 study that found an increase in nicotine use among young adults in England alongside a decline in cigarette smoking.
"We can infer from that that some of the people who are vaping wouldn't have smoked otherwise," she said.
Hardak notes that the ease of using e-cigarettes and the ability to conceal them make enforcement difficult.
"The devices are very small and can be hidden in the palm of your hand. The smell is less intense than that of conventional cigarettes and dissipates quickly," she says.
She calls for stronger monitoring and enforcement of restrictions on vaping in public spaces, alongside efforts to raise awareness of its potential harms.
When it comes to quitting, Hardak emphasizes the importance of making a firm decision to stop and understanding the potential health risks.
"You have to decide to quit," she says, underscoring the personal commitment required to overcome dependence.