THE CHALLENGE

If someone were to give you money to stop smoking, would you accept the offer?  And how much would it take – $500, $5,000, $15,000?  How about if someone offered you additional years of life, quality life, not tied to a bed in ill health, but years of activity, joy, sport, familial warmth? Or if someone offered you the same for a loved one – a spouse, child, grandchild – would you jump at the chance to give up tobacco?

THE DOWN AND DIRTY

If you answered “no” to the above, felt torn or unwilling to give up smoking, you may very well exemplify why cigarettes are considered now to be one of the most addictive products available.  In case you didn’t get the news, cigarette manufacturers for decades have been engineering and adulterating their product to ensure you were a return customer.  So what may have started out as a pleasurable pastime may now feel like feeding an uncaged tiger.

WHAT IF MY ADDICTION IS ALCOHOL, POT, PILLS, GAMING, SEX, OR…?

For most addictions, a multiple-discipline approach is most successful, whether inpatient or outpatient.

FACTS WORTH REPEATING ABOUT TOBACCO

According to the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) and other lung health associations:

• The number of US citizens trying to quit tobacco at any one time is estimated to be about 17 million.

• The number of attempts before they succeed at becoming tobacco free can range from one to ten.  Don’t give up if you don’t succeed the first time!

• The pack-a-day smoker spends about $2,000 per year on cigarettes.  That same $2,000 put into a retirement fund over a person’s work life could provide over $250,000 in savings at retirement!

• The cost to the nation for tobacco related disease, excluding second-hand exposure, tops $7 per pack in medical care and lost productivity, or more than $3,400 per smoker per year.

• Cigarettes contain 4,000 known poisons, any of which can kill in high enough doses.

• Luckily, your body starts healing within a day of quitting smoking.  Within several months, many symptoms such as coughing, sinus problems, frequent colds, shortness of breath, abnormal blood pressure and fatigue, may disappear.

• Sadly, if you don’t quit, you could very well be the someone dying needlessly every eight seconds due to tobacco use.

BUT WHAT IF…

• You are one of the folks who has tried and failed?

• You are uncomfortable with the feelings lurking underneath the “coping tool” of smoking?

• Your physiology is particularly susceptible to addictive substances?

• You have limited resources or a lack of social support?

THE GOOD NEWS

How do you get your body, mind and spirit all together on the same page?  Holistic medicine comes from the point of view that the whole being is engaged in the process of change.  Does it make sense to get out and push a stalled vehicle if the tires are flat?

Our Holistic Quit Smoking Program offers multiple tools and incentives, including acupuncture, massage, behavior modification, nutrition and herbal medicine to help individuals and families attain their goal of becoming tobacco free.  Whether or not you are using a patch or prescription, our objective is to give you the support you need to successfully become a non-smoker.

WHY ACUPUNCTURE FOR QUITTING SMOKING?

An acupuncturist can use a combination of ear and body acupuncture points which are known to reset physiologic patterns.  This reduces cravings, irritability, anxiety, restlessness and other symptoms of withdrawal, while supporting detoxification.

Treatments are more frequent in the initial stages of overcoming addiction, tapering off as the cravings dissipate and new healthy habits are formed.  Most patients find these treatments to be very relaxing.