Quitting Smoking For Dummies by David Brizer M.D

Author:David Brizer, M.D.
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Trying Acupuncture

Acupuncture, a 2,000-year-old system of Chinese medicine, is based on a theory that the body’s energy flows in meridians. Meridians are considered to be the natural channels through which the body’s energy flows. Acupuncturists treat a variety of disorders by accurately placing needles to stimulate these critical energy points. The treatments often need to be done regularly and can be costly because health insurance usually doesn’t cover them.

One hospital center in the Bronx has a large addiction treatment clinic that uses auricular (ear) acupuncture as a mainstay of treatment for severely drug-dependent individuals. These patients have been smoking tobacco and marijuana and using cocaine and heroin as well. I met a number of these patients who swear that the acupuncture treatments are keeping them off the drugs. But it’s difficult to know what to make of the experience of even hundreds of people unless the results are submitted to scientific study. (How would the patients do with sham acupuncture procedures done with incorrect needle placement, for example?) This work still needs to be done.

Nonetheless, alternative approaches such as acupuncture show promise and can complement nicotine replacement therapy (see Chapter 9), counseling, and sheer determination to quit. You can think of acupuncture as a kind of fast-food yoga: You get the well-being boost without having to do the work.

If you decide to try acupuncture, make sure that the practitioner is certified. If possible, talk to his or her other patients to determine whether they have had a good therapeutic experience.

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