Quit Smoking Advisory

Lots of smokers are flocking to find any new cure to help them quit and one of them is quit smoking acupuncture. Can this Eastern medicine really help you to overcome cigarette addiction?

What Is Acupuncture?

We’ve all seen TV clips of people with pins in their ears and laughed and joked with each other in a kind of safe horror at people who try acupuncture but the days when it had no credibility in the west are over. In some countries, acupunture treatment for various ailments is even paid for by the state, such is the apparent confidence in the method.

Acupuncture is the insertion of needles into parts of the body which then stimulate a response. Quite why this happens, no one really knows. Chinese medicine specialists say it is due to the “energy” about the body but there is no credible evidence of how it works yet it is clear that “something” in the body does happen.

How Can Acupuncture Help Smokers?

Acupuncture to cure smoking involves inserting a number of needles into the ear at specific points. They are left there for around 20 minutes and this is sufficient to provoke the response in the body. The theory is that using acupuncture will reduce the cravings for cigarettes and hence the smoker will need less or no willpower to stop. Apparently, the particular combination of points on the ear have been used for some time in the East to treat all manner of addictions. The other advantage with this method is that cigarettes are said to taste awful after this treatment thus reducing further the desire for a cigarette.

Does It Really Work?

I have never tried accupuncture and I don’t know anyone who has so I can’t comment. Whilst many people support acupuncture, when it comes to looking at studies, the evidence is far from promising. Take a look for yourself here:
http://besttreatments.bmj.com/btuk/conditions/13973.html
http://www.jr2.ox.ac.uk/bandolier/band72/b72-5.html

What Are The Alternatives?

Personally, when you look at all the methods: accupuncture, patches, pills or anything else - none of them are a roaring success or there would be practically no smokers left, right?

However, I do think there is a better method than most, and that is only because I stopped successfully using it, and these are the pure, natural methods using no aids whatsoever. These methods are just about you and your addiction - discovering what makes the addiction tick and using it against it. If you want to learn more about these methods that I used to quit, click here.