Treatment Options

October 21, 2022

The Benefits of Quitting

There are immediate benefits to quitting smoking at any age, with the largest reduction in health risks in those who quit the earliest. Even if you have already been given a diagnosis of a smoking-related illness, quitting smoking has positive health effects. Stopping smoking decreases the risk of lung and other cancers, heart attack, stroke and chronic disease.

Few Tips to Quit Smoking Cigarettes

Nicotine replacement therapy (NRT)

NRT provides small, measured doses of nicotine to help decrease your physical withdrawal symptoms without the dangerous chemicals found in cigarettes. This can help you in your journey to quitting smoking successfully.

Nicotine Patches

In order to assist you in quitting smoking, nicotine patches are a type of nicotine replacement therapy (NRT). They have a lower nicotine content than a cigarette. By substituting some of the nicotine you would otherwise get from tobacco smoke, it could be absorbed from the patch on the skin and enters the blood stream which reduce cravings and withdrawal symptoms like irritability, anxiety, depression, and restlessness.

Nicotine gum

The gum releases nicotine quickly and it is useful for helping with cravings. It works by providing nicotine to your body to decrease the withdrawal symptoms experienced when smoking is stopped and as a replacement oral activity to reduce the urge to smoke. Nicotine gum looks like regular gum, but it is not use in the same way like normal chewing gum.

Nicotine Lozenges

The nicotine lozenge can help people quit smoking by putting it in your mouth between your gums and your cheek. The lozenge appears to result in similar or slightly lower concentrations of nicotine compared to the nicotine gum. It can be used every 1-2 hours by itself to control withdrawal symptoms (up to 20 pieces per day). It helps to manage some of the other symptoms of nicotine withdrawal when you quit, for example difficulty concentrating, frustration, restlessness and anxiety.

Prescription Medications

Nicotine Nasal Spray

The nicotine nasal spray is a prescription medicine approved by the FDA to help people quit smoking. When your doctor prescribes it, they will give you detailed instructions on how to use it and help you set and adjust your dose. It can be used regularly and when you feel withdrawal symptoms or urges coming on. Delivers nicotine most rapidly of all nicotine replacement medicines (NRTs).

Nicotine Inhalator

The nicotine inhalator helps by replacing some of the nicotine you would normally get from smoking; it can help to manage cravings. Using the nicotine inhalator can also help to manage some of the other symptoms of nicotine withdrawal when you quit such as difficulty concentrating, frustration, restlessness, and anxiety. The nicotine inhalator helps to reduce cravings and feelings of withdrawal by replacing some of the nicotine you would normally get from smoking.

Nicotine Vaping Product

Quitting smoking can be tough. By obtaining nicotine from vaping while consuming fewer of the toxins produced by burning tobacco, it is possible to stop smoking. From 1 October 2021, consumers require a prescription for all purchases of nicotine vaping products, such as nicotine e-cigarettes, nicotine pods and liquid nicotine. This includes purchases from Australian pharmacies and from overseas. It remains illegal for other Australian retailers, such as tobacconists, 'vape' shops and convenience stores, to sell you nicotine vaping products, even if you have a prescription. No vaping device has yet been approved as an official stop-smoking medicine, but it is a much less harmful way of delivering nicotine than burning tobacco. Vaping has helped many people quit smoking and is a legitimate way to become smokefree.

Alternative Ways to Quit Smoking

In-person Counselling and Support

You can start counselling to help you get ready to quit, then continue counselling to help you stay quit. Ask your doctor about smoking cessation support groups or counsellors you can meet with face-to-face, or contact your local clinic, hospital, or health department.

Hypnotherapy

Hypnotherapy is a deep relaxation and attentive state that form of mind-body therapy. It allows patient to ignore ordinary distractions and be open to guided suggestions and make changes to improve your health. Hypnotherapy is frequently marketed as a way to help people quit smoking. The goal is to act on subconscious urges to weaken the desire to smoke, strengthen the will to stop, or enhance concentration to help smokers better focus on the treatment.

Acupuncture

Study shows that acupuncture is one of the effective alternative treatments which is able to motivate smokers to reduce their smoking or quit smoking completely. This treatment helps bring the mind and body stress hormones back to normal and affect cigarette smoker's smoking pattern by reducing their taste of tobacco and cigarette cravings.