Health Risks & Effects of Heroin Use

Heroin is a very addictive drug made from morphine that is sold either as a white powder or as a brown sticky substance (black tar heroin). An illicit opioid drug, heroin enters the brain quickly and binds to opioid receptors to cause an immediate and intensely euphoric high.¹ Heroin’s action on the body’s opioid receptors also reduces feelings of pain and slows vital functions like breathing and the heart rate.

This page will cover the effects of different methods of heroin use as well as how to find heroin addiction treatment in Florida.

How Is Heroin Used?

Most users of this powerful illegal opioid will snort, smoke, or inject the drug.¹ Black tar heroin is typically injected, whereas white powder heroin is often snorted or smoked. New users will often seek out the white powder heroin to avoid injection use, which is very stigmatized.¹

Heroin use by any means is dangerous. In 2022, over 5,000 people died in a heroin-related overdose in the United States.⁵

Effects of Heroin

Someone who is high on heroin may experience and/or exhibit many short-term effects, including:¹

• Nodding the head and switching between a conscious and semi-conscious state (being “on the nod”).
• Heaviness in the extremities.
• Problems thinking clearly.
• Dry mouth.
• Itching.
• Nausea/vomiting.
• Warm, flushed skin.

Effects of Snorting Heroin

Snorting heroin has its own inherent health risks. Regular intranasal use of this drug can result in damage to the nasal tissues.¹ Those who snort heroin may experience:⁸

• Red and/or runny nose.
• Nasal pain.
• Sores in the nose.
• Holes in the nasal septum.
• Problems swallowing.
• Damage to the hard or soft palate.

People often snort heroin because it isn’t as scary as injecting or even smoking the drug.⁴ Some heroin users also believe they won’t become addicted to heroin if they stick to this method. This is a myth, of course; any heroin use, regardless of the method, may result in addiction. ⁴

Snorting or sniffing (intranasal delivery) may alleviate the fears of some heroin users over contracting HIV and other bloodborne diseases, a very serious risk of injection drug use.⁶ However, snorting the drug does not fully eliminate this risk because heroin use by any means is linked to a greater likelihood of engaging in risky behaviors, including unsafe sex.⁷ 

Snorting may quickly progress to injection use as a user gains a greater tolerance to the effects of the drug and looks for a better high.^4,6 Some users will engage in both snorting and injection use. For example, some individuals may snort their heroin prior to injecting it as a way of informally testing it to determine its strength or ingredients. ⁶

Regularly snorting heroin may lead to noticeable physical changes including:⁹

• Chronic runny nose.
• Redness of the nose.
• Constant sniffing.
• Nosebleeds.
• Sores on the nostrils.

Effects of Smoking Heroin

Smoking heroin is linked to respiratory health problems. One study of more than 750 heroin smokers found that most suffered from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or a combination of COPD and asthma.¹² The prevalence of COPD in heroin smokers is also much higher than the COPD prevalence among regular tobacco smokers.¹³

Other respiratory issues that may arise from consistent inhalation (smoking) of heroin include:^12,14

• Mucosal inflammation and injury.
• Chronic bronchitis.
• Acute bacterial bronchitis.
• Airway reactivity (inflammatory changes in the airways after exposure to irritants that can result in coughing, wheezing, shortness of breath, etc.).
• Early onset of severe emphysema.
• Hypersensitivity pneumonitis (a disease that causes swelling and sensitivity of the lung tissue, makes breathing difficult, and may cause lung scarring).
• Barotrauma (e.g., pneumothorax, a life-threatening condition involving air or gas between the lungs and chest wall).

Effects of Shooting (Injecting) Heroin

Injecting, or shooting, heroin often represents a serious progression of drug use, since a large portion of new heroin users start with snorting or smoking.⁴ Injection is a very efficient way to deliver the drug into the system, so users chasing a high they can no longer achieve via other means may “graduate” to shooting up—a practice rife with risks.⁴

Research indicates that, compared to other methods of use, injection drug use is linked to more severe substance abuse-related problems including higher rates of:²

• Drug use and dependence.
• Unemployment.
• Physical health issues.
• Co-occurring mental health disorders.

HIV and Other Disease Transmission

One of the most well-known, and most frightening, risks of injecting heroin is the risk of contracting HIV or viral hepatitis. Sharing needles or other injection equipment may result in the transfer of blood (and the diseases it carries) to another user.¹⁵ The risky behaviors associated with drug use and addiction, such as unsafe sex, only add to this danger.¹⁵

Per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), an HIV-negative person has a 1 in 160 chance of getting HIV each time they share a needle with an HIV-positive person.¹⁵ One in every 10 new HIV diagnoses occurs in an injection drug user.¹⁵

Injection heroin may also result in life-threatening bacterial and fungal infections.¹⁶

Other Health Effects of Injecting Heroin

The risks of injection drug use go beyond the risk of bloodborne disease transmission. Shooting heroin may cause:^1,17–20

Heroin Overdose

Heroin overdose is a risk any time a person uses heroin, regardless of the method.^21,22 The risk of overdose is very high when the drug is cut with another substance such as fentanyl, which often occurs without the user’s knowledge.^15,23

Heroin Addiction Rehab in Hollywood, FL

If you or someone you love is struggling with heroin use, there is effective help to get you on the road to recovery and back to living a life you deserve. At our inpatient rehab near Miami, our treatment specialists use addiction-focused, evidence-based healthcare to help people reclaim their lives from addiction.

Call our compassionate and knowledgeable admissions navigators at to learn about our treatment levels or to start the admissions process. They can also answer your questions about ways to pay for rehab, such as using your insurance coverage for rehab.

Recovery is possible, so don’t wait. Give us a call today or use our to check your insurance coverage for addiction treatment now.