Trying to stop smoking is very difficult, and nicotine addicts have tried as many ways to kick the habit as there were reasons for them to begin smoking. A new treatment has become popular in the United States over the past ten years: laser treatment to stop smoking.
The Government Rejects the Treatment
The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has refused to approve the new methods, however. The FDA has claimed that there is not enough evidence to fully approve the methods, aside from experimenting with the method under strict conditions. The American Cancer Society agrees with this position. The ACS believes that the evidence to support stop smoking laser treatments is lacking. However, they do not claim that the treatment is not effective in managing pain and some cancer symptoms.
Doctors and other health care professionals also disagree on its effectiveness. This treatment, which started in Canada and Europe twenty years before appearing in the US, is viewed either as a great boon for those who want to quit smoking right now or as an abject failure for those it let down.
How Laser Treatments Work
These treatments target a cold laser on a smoker’s body, such as the ears, hands, face, or the wrist. This produces endorphins, which the body normally produces when you do pleasant things. Nicotine allegedly produces endorphins which decline over time as the effects of the drug wear off.
Professionals who use the laser stop smoking treatments believe that the raised endorphins caused by the laser diminish nicotine cravings. In published papers, these health care providers argue that the treatment also reduces stress. This is important due to the connections between smoking behavior and stress. Other anti-smoking treatments like patches and medications do not reduce stress like this treatment supposedly does.
Just One of Many
Supporters of this treatment method stress that the laser therapy is but one tool in their arsenal to quit smoking. In addition to the laser treatment, addicts should also take vitamins and minerals, detoxification products, and psychological counseling to fight a multi-front war against smoking addiction.
Doctors who write about laser treatment say that there is little danger in simply trying this therapy method. In fact, it could act like a placebo, giving the patient an ‘excuse’ to finally quit the habit. Having to spend cash on quitting gives them the push to quit for good rather than having to keep spending money on program after program.