Alternative Therapies

Quitting smoking is tough. You’ll want to try different ways to quit, especially when you get frustrated. But there’s no secret way to quit smoking effortlessly. Your best bet is an approach that addresses the physical, social and behavioral aspects of smoking, such as a combination of medication and counseling. New methods you hear about might work for some people some of the time, but the combo of medication and counseling works for more people more of the time. So feel free to try new ways to quit smoking cigarettes, just don’t put all your eggs in one basket. And remember, the EX team and EX Community is always here for you. Dr. Hurt of the Mayo Clinic has provided more info about alternative quit methods below.

	Quit Smoking Cold Turkey The “cold turkey” method of quitting smoking — quitting without any help — is common. While we encourage any attempt to quit smoking, we don’t recommend just throwing out the last pack and trying to call it quits on your own. Because studies show that 97% of cold turkey quit attempts fail within six months. We’ve found what works best is some combination of a quit smoking medication and counseling. Quitting smoking is hard. It’s okay to ask for help.
	Electronic Cigarettes Electronic cigarettes are designed to give you an experience that’s like smoking but without any smoke. Since they don’t burn tobacco, they’re marketed as less harmful than regular cigarettes. But so far, there’s no evidence to prove that claim. There’s also no evidence that electronic cigarettes help you quit smoking. On top of all that, they’re not approved by the FDA and have even been banned in Canada, Australia and Brazil. Your best bet for successfully quitting smoking is a combination of quit smoking medication and counseling. Get information on quit smoking medication here.
	Quit Smoking Using Hypnosis Hypnotism uses suggestion to change behavior. It’s hard to test whether it works or not, but studies suggest hypnosis doesn’t help people quit smoking. This may be because nicotine actually changes your brain chemistry, meaning nicotine addiction is just too powerful to be overcome by suggestion. We encourage any attempt to quit smoking, but we hope you’ll use proven methods that are backed by the best available research. Learn more about nicotine and your brain here.
	Laser Therapy and Acupuncture to Quit Smoking Some people say that laser therapy and acupuncture can help you to quit smoking. Laser therapy and acupuncture stimulate your body to make chemicals called endorphins, which decrease nicotine cravings. But there’s no scientific evidence to back this up. Will laser therapy or acupuncture hurt you? No. But they won’t necessarily help you stop smoking either. Quitting smoking is hard, so it makes sense to try different things. But so far, the quit smoking method that has the most scientific support is a combination of a quit smoking medication and counseling.