What Methods Actually Work for Quitting Smoking

For many smokers the thought of becoming a non-smoker is alluring and for those who are truly committed to quitting they can simply stop cold turkey. Unfortunately for most smokers, quitting is a much more complicated matter and the thought of the physical and physiological withdrawal symptoms can frighten many into not even trying. Thankfully, products such as nicotine gums and patches, hypnosis, natural herbal products, and devices to simulate the act of smoking are all available to help one quit. This article will talk about these types of programs, how each works, and try to determine how well each may work.

The nicotine gums, patches, and lozenges are one of the most popular techniques used and nicotine replacement therapy is just what the name implies. A smoker receives an infusion of nicotine to fight withdrawal cravings from a source separate from tobacco. This method can indeed help to fight cravings and is safer then tobacco because the body is not receiving the tar and thousands of other deadly chemicals it would get from tobacco. A problem with this method is that nicotine in itself is a poison and can cause problems such as high blood pressure, increased pulse rate, and heart disease. Another problem related to this method is that in order to quit smoking, the body must be purged of nicotine to completely remove the addition and if a smoker continues to consume nicotine, even from an alternate source, the body is not going through the necessary stage of purging itself clean of the drug and the process of quitting is extended and many times unsuccessful. This method can work, however, if the smoker is committed enough to stick to a schedule where their nicotine consumption is gradually decreased to the point where it is completely removed.

Because many smokers experience psychological withdrawal symptoms as well as the physical cravings for nicotine, the method of hypnosis is often used with better results. Hypnosis works by putting the smoker into a highly relaxed state where they are extremely open to positive, healthy suggestions. The suggestions work to remove the psychological behavior that often reinforces a smokers thought patterns and once the state of a smokers mind is changed, it is said to be easier to avoid the physical cravings. Two popular programs that use this technique are the Freshstart quit smoking method and the QuitSmokingRightNow program and both claim to be the best available with extremely high success rates. For many people, hypnotism represents a stage show joke and is not to be taken seriously. This could not be further from the truth with the science of hypnotism being a legitimate practice that is now being used to help people quit many types of bad, health destroying habits.

The practice of using all natural herbal remedies as home cures for many medical conditions has been around for thousands of years and, like hypnosis, it seems to be gaining more respect in the modern world. For whatever ailment that you may have, it is said that there is a herbal remedy to fix it and this seems to be true for quitting smoking as well. Most herbal remedies act on the nicotine receptors of a smokers body making it appear to the smoker that their nicotine requirement are being fulfilled by creating the pleasant feelings that one would normally receive from nicotine. One such product is the NicoCure quit smoking patch that not only claims to alleviate the nicotine withdrawal symptoms but is said to contain a herbal compound that actually makes tobacco taste bad to the smoker who relapses and lights up. Another product that makes some awesome claims of success is the Zero Nicotine Anti-Smoking patch.

While all of the above products claim to defeat the dreaded nicotine withdrawal symptoms, there are still the psychological symptoms to deal with such as the act of smoking. While the programs that rely on hypnosis claim to remove the psychological symptoms as well as the physical, most other quit smoking programs seem to come up short in this area. Products such as the EzQuit artificial cigarette are said to help in this area. The EzQuit artificial cigarette is used as an alternative to an actual cigarette. It is held in the hand, put in the mouth, and sucked on just like a cigarette but it is not lit nor does it contain any tobacco or nicotine. The manufacture states that it contains all natural compounds that not only help to ease the physical symptoms of withdrawal but it also duplicates the actions of smoking that so many smokers miss when quitting.

There are as many quit smoking programs and products available as reasons to quit and Ive only covered a few of the more popular ones currently available. What product a smoker wishing to quit uses is highly personal and unique and not every method will work for every smoker. The important thing is that you do quit and that the program that you decide to use is based on an informative and educated decision. It is my sincere hope that this article has helped to supply some useful information that can help you come to the correct decision and that you take the most important step of deciding it is time to put the health destroying habit of smoking behind you today.