Stop Smoking with Traditional Chinese Medicine

Every year, hundreds of people everywhere promise to never smoke again. Unfortunately, many will make the same resolution every year or maybe several times in a year. Needless to say, nicotine is highly addictive making smoking one of the hardest habits to break. In fact, according to studies, it is common for smokers to make 2 to 3 attempts to kick the habit before they can do so successfully.

There are numerous ways that have been invented to help people quit smoking such as nicotine gums and patches. When the usual methods fail to work, many smokers turn to alternative options. Today, a growing number of people are convinced that Traditional Chinese Medicine can help in smoking cessation. 

TCM offers acupuncture as an alternative option to help people stop smoking. This method has been used even in drug addiction treatment plans because it helps control withdrawal symptoms and cravings. Of course, this does not mean that acupuncture is a guaranteed cure to nicotine or drug addiction; however, it has been proven effective to help make the process of quitting smoking easier.

Acupuncture works to help break the cigarette habit by reducing the cravings to smoke as well as the withdrawal symptoms that happen when one tries to quit smoking. These symptoms may vary from one smoker to another and acupuncture is actually just one technique to deal with a host of other withdrawal symptoms such as irritability and restlessness. 

Other TCM methods that are used to fix imbalances in the body, remove toxins and help in relaxation are Chinese herbal medicine and certain bodywork and exercises. It is common for more than one method to be employed to aid smoking cessation. Certain foods and drinks are also recommended by TCM practitioners such Houttuynia tea and an herbal soup consisting of herbs like ground dragon, mint, licorice and ginger.

A qualified TCM practitioner will design a specific plan based on the unique habits of a person when it comes to smoking. Because TCM is a holistic treatment approach, physical examination and observation of the patient is necessary to create a complete picture on which the treatment plan will be based. While the benefits of TCM in smoking cessation have been proven, it will only work if the patient is truly determined to quit smoking.