Acupuncture and Smoking Cessation

Acupuncture is one of the most successful methods for smoking cessation. People following this technique are known to be highly motivated to quit smoking. Smokers who could not quit smoking through other conventional methods usually find acupuncture quite useful. Some of these smokers had developed different kinds of health problems related to smoking like coughs, increased frequency of cold, flu and shortness of breath. Such smokers want to prevent these diseases from developing further and improve their standard of living. It is important that people who choose acupuncture to quit smoking need to be highly motivated. They should possess a very strong desire to quit rather than just putting off smoking temporarily.

Usually the acupuncture therapy involves five visits to the clinic. Before you have your first appointment, you will receive a questionnaire which you have to answer very honestly because your treatment program will be based upon your answers. The questionnaire will gather all the information concerning your background and smoking history. It also helps in identifying your habits and behaviors that encouraged you to start smoking on a regular basis. There are some smokers who are just social smokers and smoke for pleasure. Other smokers smoke when in stress or for emotional reasons.

During your first appointment at the acupuncture clinic, your questionnaire will be discussed with you and a physical exam will be conducted to get information about your blood pressure, lung status and other aspects by using Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). The main objective behind taking this test and reviewing is to find out the Chinese diagnosis that will be suitable for you and will hence allow an individual procedure for treatment. Every person has different smoking habits and unique emotional as well as physical background, so every patient has an acupuncture treatment tailor made for him. It should be worth mentioning that no two people receive the exact same treatment. You are helped in identifying certain triggers that initiated smoking in your life and which will help you in quitting forever. The first month of treatment is the hardest although acupuncture treatment will help to ease the difficulty. However, this part of the treatment is not actually treatment but it includes efforts to help you become a non smoker. The actual acupuncture treatment will take place in the succeeding four sessions and will help you in quitting smoking for good. These four sessions will be decided according to your response to the first session. They will focus mainly on the physical and emotional withdrawing symptoms that might arise due to the treatment.

In the acupuncture treatment for smoking cessation, there are no magic points and each person is treated according to his own unique diagnosis. The acupuncture procedure usually involves a combination of acupuncture points in the body and the points on the ear are also used. Then needles are inserted into these points and the patient is advised to relax for about half an hour. The patients are encouraged to go for regular exercises and certain dietary recommendations are also handed out. Quite often, some herbs are prescribed and supplements in everyday diet are suggested which will help in controlling cravings and temptations along with any withdrawal symptoms. The patients are given strict guidelines as to which foods are to be avoided and which are to be included during the course of withdrawal. As a special kind of treatment, a small metal pellet is often inserted into a specific point on the ear which helps to ease the cravings and temptations.

The fact that the acupuncture program is custom made for every single individual, the probability of achieving success has increased. People who were unable to quit through conventional methods are able to quit smoking successfully. Some patients try to use Nicotine gum or nicotine patch, and if they stick to it even through the acupuncture program, then permanent cessation can be achieved with lesser difficulty.