It has been a recurring New Year’s resolution among regular smokers to quit the bad habit. Some cigarette smokers are so motivated to stop smoking they have already made a detailed plan on how to gradually decrease consumption and try different alternatives to divert themselves from their usual habit. Other smokers successfully stop by quitting cold turkey. For a huge number of smokers, they eventually fail and get back to smoking. Thomas Kiresuk, PhD, a clinical psychologist at the Minneapolis Medical Research Foundation, once said that there is no magic bullet when it comes to smoking cessation.
Despite numerous cycles of quitting and returning to smoking, smokers who have been enlightened of the deadly effects of the habit strive to become smoke-free one day. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention estimates more than 440,000 people die annually in the United States due to tobacco use.
In this short article, we give you brief but useful information regarding proven and tested alternatives of smoking cessation.
Nicotine Replacement Therapies
The Mayo Clinic staff has suggested this smoking alternative, which may be best recommended by your doctor. Common replacement therapies include prescription nicotine contained in a nasal spray or inhaler, nicotine patches, lozenges, and other non-nicotine medications that require a doctor’s prescription, such as bupropion (Zyban) and varenicline (Chantix). If visiting the doctor is not a good idea for you, you may also use electronic cigarettes, which has gained popularity in recent years.
Diversion Activities
The usual sentiment among smokers struggling to quit is their need to distract themselves from cravings and impulses. An effective and healthy way to divert your attention from the temptation of smoking is to engage in different physical activities, even as simple as getting out for a walk or a short-distance jog.
If getting physical sounds stressful and demanding, learning relaxation techniques, activities, and deep-breathing exercises may help.
Acupuncture
An old Chinese technique known to cure various kinds of diseases, acupuncture has gained acceptance as a smoking-cessation alternative even among academic scholars. The University of Oslo in Norway found in their study, and published in the Preventive Medicine journal in 2002, that persons who were subjected to acupuncture treatments eventually smoked less. While acupuncture may not bring an abrupt or quick smoking cessation, it may help ease you while dealing with the process of quitting.
Nicotine Vaccine
Nicotine vaccination may become the ultimate future of ending the smoking habit. While it is not generally available in the market, several vaccines were reported to be developed and set for clinical trials. These developed vaccines will be used in administering nicotine vaccinations to smokers who wish to stop smoking.
Conclusion
Statistics show that more than fifty million Americans have tried smoking, with more or less seven million consuming smokeless tobacco. Taking notice of the unhealthy consequences of smoking, every smoker should consider smoking cessation by trying out different alternatives. For parents, it is important to guide their kids by informing them of the adverse effects of smoking, even at a tender age.
If you suspect your kid has started cigarette use, there are numerous nicotine test kits available in the market to help you determine whether your kid is joining the club of cigarette addicts.