Our own poor health choices shouldn’t limit our access to life-saving procedures when we need them — but you might want to brace yourself for that possibility.

A growing number of surgeons are considering the risks and refusing to operate on patients who smoke, due to the risk of infection and a higher rate of poor healing. Studies show smokers have complications, usually due to infections, 80 percent more often than those who do not smoke.

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Elective surgeries such as joint replacement, spinal fusion, and plastic surgery are especially impacted. These procedures can affect a patient’s quality of life, though they’re not aimed at immediately life-threatening conditions. In these cases, having the surgery with a poor outcome decreases that quality of life, rather than enhancing it.

If they can’t quit completely, Dr. Gregory A. Buford, a board-certified plastic surgeon in Englewood, Colorado, counsels his patients to quit smoking and using any nicotine products four-to-six weeks before and after surgery.

“If I know someone is doing something that will jeopardize the ability to heal or to achieve optimal results, I refuse to work with that person,” said one surgeon.

“If I know someone is doing something that will jeopardize his or her ability to heal or to achieve optimal results, I simply refuse to work with that person,” he told LifeZette. “Smoking temporarily paralyzes hair cells in your nose and can allow infectious particles to pass through without being filtered. It lowers blood supply of the microcirculation, which then inhibits and compromises your local immune system from participating in the act of wound healing as well as infection prevention.”

The longer a wound takes to heal — the more the risk for infection, as bacteria have more time to infiltrate.

Buford believes nutrition is also a key component of successful surgery, and wrote the book, “Eat Drink Heal: The Art and Science of Surgical Nutrition,” to help patients change poor nutrition habits in order to get the best result from surgery.

“Many patients — and physicians — simply do not appreciate the role that proper nutrition and optimal health play when it comes to healing,” Buford said.

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All nicotine products cause negative healing consequences, so patches and gums, which are often prescribed for people attempting to quit smoking, are off-limits, too. Doctors use urine and blood tests to screen for the by-products of nicotine to ensure compliance.

Nurse anesthetist Nick Angelis of Pensacola, Florida, who is also an RN, sees patients’ complications while receiving anesthesia. He is the author of “How to Succeed in Anesthesia School.”

“Smokers have more vascular problems, an altered nervous system, and poor skin and wound healing,” Angelis told LifeZette. “Obviously, because I put a breathing tube or similar device down a patient’s throat, I see smokers have more irritated airways.”

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Obesity and diabetes can also impact surgical outcomes. Angelis works with an orthopedic surgeon who won’t accept patients with a body mass index (BMI) over 40 — and said he understands the criteria.

Some surgeons won’t even meet with new patients unless they meet their parameters for health. Parameters might include a weight below obesity level, steady blood sugar levels, and controlled blood pressure, as well as not smoking. All medications and supplements are monitored before surgery as well, and may need to be discontinued before an operation.

“Obesity is obviously an issue,” Angelis said. “Drinking alcohol and other drug use should cease, too. In my practice, weed smokers fare much worse than cigarette smokers in their propensity to laryngospasm (a spasm of the vocal cords that temporarily makes it difficult to speak or breathe). This phenomenon blocks airflow, happens most often to an irritated airway, and can be fatal or lead to flash pulmonary edema and other serious complications.”

Related: The Heavy Price of Persistent Pot Smoking

Rather than feel bullied, Buford said most patients respond well to his refusal to operate.

“I explain that I am looking out for their health and that any bad choices they make could mean the difference between not only a good and a less good outcome, but also their long-term health,” he said. “In 16 years, I have had very few people not understand this and make changes.”

Some surgeons’ refusals may come as part of the way health care is billed and paid. Many medical practices are paid via a bundled approach, accepting a set fee for certain procedures — and complications whittle away at that fee.

Other physicians simply want the best outcome for their efforts and know patients who live healthier lifestyles are more likely to recover well.

Pat Barone, MCC, is a professional credentialed coach and author of the Own Every Bite! bodycentric re-education program for mindful and intuitive eating, who helps clients heal food addictions.