R U Risk or Hazard?

How does your mindset influence health decisions, your long-term wellbeing, and personal responsibility? To help you understand what category you fall into, we're going to use smoking as an example.

When it comes to smoking, most people know it’s “bad for you.” We’ve seen the warning labels, heard the statistics, and watched the commercials. Yet millions of people still smoke. Why? One big reason comes down to how people understand risk versus hazard—and how differently individuals interpret those two ideas.

What’s the Difference Between a Hazard and a Risk?

A hazard is something that has the potential to cause harm. Cigarettes are a hazard because they contain toxic chemicals, carcinogens, and addictive substances like nicotine. This part is straightforward: smoking can cause serious health problems such as lung cancer, heart disease, stroke, and COPD.

Risk, on the other hand, is about probability. It answers the question: How likely is that to harm me? Risk depends on factors like how much someone smokes, how long they’ve smoked, genetics, lifestyle, and even chance.

In simple terms:

• Hazard = what could go wrong

• Risk = how likely it is to go wrong

“Hazard People” vs. “Risk People”

People tend to fall into different mindsets when making health decisions.

Hazard-focused people hear “smoking causes cancer” and think, Why would I ever do that? For them, the presence of danger alone is enough to avoid the behavior. The hazard itself feels unacceptable, regardless of the odds.

Risk-focused people, however, think differently. They acknowledge the hazard but downplay the personal risk. You’ll often hear things like:

• “My grandpa smoked his whole life and lived to 90.”

• “I only smoke socially.”

• “You have to die from something.”

These individuals aren’t denying that smoking is dangerous—they’re betting that the risk won’t apply to them.

Which one are you? Are you risk-based thinking, which relies on odds, comfort, and delayed action, or are you hazard-based thinking, which prioritizes prevention, awareness, and proactive change? Is it something you can or should change? Listen to Dr. Hubert's Podcast "R U Risk or Hazard?" to dive deeper.

R U a Risk or Hazard to your Spine?

From a chiropractic perspective, smoking affects more than just the lungs. It:

• Reduces blood flow and oxygen to discs and joints

• Increases inflammation

• Slows tissue repair and healing

• Adds stress to the nervous system

Even more reasons to get your spine checked!

References:

Al-Bashaireh AM, Haddad LG, Weaver M, Kelly DL, Chengguo X, Yoon S. The Effect of Tobacco Smoking on Musculoskeletal Health: A Systematic Review. J Environ Public Health. 2018 Jul 11;2018:4184190. doi: 10.1155/2018/4184190. PMID: 30112011; PMCID: PMC6077562.

Khurana VG. Adverse impact of smoking on the spine and spinal surgery. Surg Neurol Int. 2021 Mar 24;12:118. doi: 10.25259/SNI_6_2021. PMID: 33880223; PMCID: PMC8053459.

National Spine Health Foundation. (2024, February 1). Can smoking and vaping cause back pain? SpineHealth.org. https://spinehealth.org/article/smoking-and-vaping/