Based on the traditional Chinese medicine, invisible life energy travels around the body along special pathways. The energy flow is critical for human health. When this energy flow gets blocked, people have health problems. An acupuncturist inserts thin sterile needles into the skin at certain places where energy is thought to be blocked. The needles are then twisted (either by hand or electrically) to free the energy flow and to provide health benefits.
Acupuncture is used to help people give up smoking. It is executed to re-align the vitality in your entire body and possibly to generate neurotransmitter. There are some specific energy points in the body that are relevant to smoking. These energy points include: Shenmen, Sympathetic, Lung, Liver, Kidney, Nicotine point, and Point Zero. These energy points are generally near the front section of your ear. The nicotine points can spark specific energies. Special needles are employed to spark specific energies in these points. These energies provide benefit to quit smoking in following ways:
- Suppress appetite and reduce weight gain.
- Improve mood and reduce depression.
- Relax body and divert stress.
- Balance and detoxify entire body.
- Decrease nicotine cravings.
Although acupuncture treatment has proven to be effective, there are certain drawbacks:
- Some people have in-bred fear of needles, which lead to a deterrent to this form of treatment.
- Some needles can cause pain or discomfort.
- Satisfactory results require weekly visits to the acupuncturist by the patients over periods of 2 to 3 months. This demands investment of time and money, and can lead to de-motivation on the part of the patient.
- Access to professional acupuncturists may be difficult.
To overcome the drawbacks of traditional acupuncture treatment, acupressure can be used to achieve the same purpose. Acupressure is usually performed by use of a small ball. The ball is placed on the acupoints to obtain the same effectiveness as the traditional needling techniques.
Acupuncture treatments to quit smoking are usually combination with herbal medicine to gain synergistic effects.
