The Contribution of Acupuncture in Smoking Cessation

According to the European Society of Cardiology, smoking is considered a chronic relapsing medical condition that can affect long-term health.

Why does someone smoke?

Mainly because of nicotine’s effects. According to announcements by the American Heart Association, chronic nicotine intake causes:

• Simultaneous feelings of anxiety relief and alertness
• Increased concentration
• Calmness, good mood, euphoria
• Analgesia
• Compulsive need for continuous intake

It is important for smokers to realize that along with nicotine, they are also inhaling over 4,000 substances that are present in today’s cigarettes, many of which are carcinogenic and generally harmful to the body.

Why is smoking cessation difficult?

Everyone agrees that quitting smoking is a particularly challenging task. Most smokers continuously postpone their attempt to quit due to the anticipated difficulties they will face during the challenging period of adapting to their new life.

And they are right, because withdrawal syndrome from quitting regular nicotine intake, along with other psychoactive substances in modern cigarettes, significantly limits success rates. According to statistics, only a very small percentage of those who want or are forced by medical reasons to quit smoking succeed in doing so.

Withdrawal can manifest in various forms, such as a decline in cognitive functions (concentration, memory), mood disturbances, appetite changes, bowel mobility, sleep disorders, and it expresses differently in different individuals and at different stages of life. Its intensity depends not only on endogenous but also on exogenous factors. Therefore, some support may be necessary for smokers to successfully quit.

Methods of Smoking Cessation:

• With nicotine substitutes (patches, inhaler, electronic cigarette, nicotine gum)
• With medications that act on the central nervous system, counteracting the effects of certain substances in cigarettes
• With exercise – research has shown that aerobic exercise can produce endogenous substances like serotonin, endorphins, endocannabinoids, and phenylethylamine, which help alleviate withdrawal symptoms
• With the use of alternative therapies, including acupuncture

Medical Acupuncture and Smoking:

All methods that assist in quitting smoking aim to support the individual’s decision. The smoker must already have decided that they want to quit and seek help to make the process easier. The milder the withdrawal symptoms, the easier it is for them to stick to their decision.

Medical acupuncture provides significant assistance in adapting the body to the new condition, i.e., the cessation of chronic intake of exogenous substances and the production of corresponding endogenous substances.

As early as the first 24 hours after acupuncture treatment, the smoker experiences:

• Mild and controlled cravings for smoking
• Gradual aversion to smoke and the taste of cigarettes
• Reduction of withdrawal symptoms

Acupuncture, therefore, serves as a vital tool for those who have decided to go through the process of quitting smoking.

Very fine disposable needles are placed in specific areas according to international therapeutic protocols and remain in these areas for about 20 minutes.

In the majority of cases, the results are very good after just 1 or 2 acupuncture sessions. However, sometimes the program may be adjusted based on the smoker’s therapeutic needs.

Quitting smoking through acupuncture is a non-pharmaceutical process, with no side effects, and with particularly high success rates. According to statistics from corresponding medical studies on nicotine withdrawal treatment protocols, 7 out of 10 succeed in quitting smoking.