These stop-smoking aids are popular tools to help kick the habit, but some work better than others. Find out which methods give you the best shot at quitting smoking for good.
If you’re one of the millions of people in the United States who are trying to quit smoking, you should feel proud of yourself. Admitting that you want to kick the habit — and committing yourself to the process — is the first step along your journey to a smoking-free life. But just remember that not all smoking cessation advice is created equal.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimate that more than 36 million Americans currently smoke — and that nearly 70 percent of them want to stop altogether. And not without good reason: Tobacco smoke contains hundreds of harmful chemicals, including about 70 known carcinogens. Each year, according to the CDC, cigarette smoking is responsible for more than 480,000 deaths in the United States, and more than 16 million Americans live with a smoking-related disease. Not only can smoking cigarettes trigger lung cancer, but it can also contribute to infertility, heart disease, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and more.
Unfortunately, despite their desire to be smoke-free, many people find it difficult to quit. Blame nicotine, a particularly addictive drug that’s found in tobacco products like cigarettes; after you stop using it, you can experience physical symptoms of withdrawal that include intense cravings, headaches, and feelings of irritability, anxiety, increased hunger, and more. Indeed, because nicotine is so addictive, some people make multiple attempts at quitting before they’re finally successful, says Eleana M. Conway, a nurse practitioner at the Lahey Health Tobacco Treatment Program in Burlington, Massachusetts.
All things considered, it's no wonder that people turn to things like dietary supplements or e-cigarettes to help them kick the habit — even though the evidence is slim that these products, among others, are effective smoking cessation aids.
The good news is that it is possible to stop smoking — and the sooner you quit, the better. Take heart in the fact that since 2002, the number of former smokers has outgrown the number of current smokers. Nor do you have to go it alone: If you’re trying to quit, there are many treatment options available that can help you stop smoking for good — you just have to know how to spot them. (According to data from the CDC, fewer than one in three people who tried to quit smoking in 2015 used “proven” treatments — and fewer than 1 in 10 of them were successful.)
Read on to learn the best and worst ways to kick the habit.
Additional Reporting by Andrea Peirce
It might sound logical, but Conway says this strategy hardly ever works. Still, she notes, "that doesn’t mean people shouldn’t try [it].” Because each cigarette is harmful to your health, any reduction at all is a good thing, she says. When someone is trying to quit, “we meet them wherever they are in their journey,” Conway explains. “Our goal is to help people get to the next step, and then to the next step after that. The timing [to stop] has to be right.”
Just remember that the damage from tobacco (including an increased risk for cancer, heart disease, stroke, and more) doesn’t go away until you quit completely. In a review of data published in BMC Medicine in October 2015, researchers from the United Kingdom concluded that “the benefits [of smoking cessation] are only observed when it leads to permanent cessation.”
Nicotine replacement therapies — in the form of gums, lozenges, inhalers, nasal sprays, and skin patches — have been shown to relieve cravings. "Often, we recommend using a combination of these nicotine replacements,” Conway says. “It depends on what you need.”
For example, some people will pop a lozenge for a quick hit of nicotine (the effects kick in after 10 to 20 minutes) and also use a nicotine patch, which provides a steady stream of nicotine but takes about an hour to kick in. A healthcare provider can help you find the right mix, she says, and decide which products are best for you.
Hypnotherapy, a complementary medicine that uses the imagination to help break bad habits or deal with stress, may seem like a popular smoking cessation aid, but the American Cancer Society (ACS) says that there isn’t enough evidence to show that it works. Conway agrees with that assessment. “We don’t use it,” she says.
What could work, she says, are deep breathing and relaxation techniques, like meditation. Phone apps that promote mindfulness and smoking cessation are surging in popularity, in part because they help increase people’s awareness of cravings and offer ways to counter them, she says.
Similar to acupuncture, low-level laser therapy (or cold laser therapy) is a type of treatment that uses low-intensity light to stimulate certain points on the body. Fans say that the light stimulates brain chemicals that can then help you quit smoking — research, however, doesn’t. “We have tried-and-true methods to help you stop smoking, but low-level laser therapy is not one of them," says Conway.
If you’re tempted to light up when people around you start smoking, try spending your time with your nonsmoking friends and family members. Even better, let them know what you’ll be going through and how they can help encourage you to stay smoke free. If you can’t avoid people who currently smoke, ask them not to do so in front of you.
Prescription medications like buproprion and varenicline can help people quit by blocking the brain chemicals that make smoking pleasurable. And, says Conway, they’re particularly successful when paired with nicotine replacement or behavior therapy.
Although the drugs aren’t addictive, they do have side effects, including nausea and insomnia. While smokers should discuss the risks and benefits of these medications with their doctor, Conway tells people to keep this in perspective: “There are few things as dangerous as smoking a cigarette,” she says. “Smoking is really scary stuff.”
Conway tells people to avoid herbs and supplements. “They are not regulated [by the Food and Drug Administration] and have not been shown to be effective,” she says.
Electronic cigarettes, or e-cigarettes, haven’t been shown to be safe, says Conway, and could in fact be harmful, since they “trick” people into thinking that they are a good alternative to lighting up. “There’s been a huge rise in use among high school and even elementary school students thinking these are safe,” she says.
A good smoking cessation program is one of the best resources you can find, says Conway. Her program in Burlington — along with others elsewhere in the United States — coaches people to think about something they did successfully in the past, and then apply the same success principles to their attempts to quit smoking. The CDC says that treatments like cellphone-based programs, telephone counseling, and group sessions are all effective smoking cessation aids.
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