How to Control or Quit Your Tobacco Use

Smoking or consumption of Tobacco in any form is hazardous to one’s health but with healthy practices, one can effectively quit the habit. Smoking cigarettes and consumption of tobacco in any form nearly affects every organ of the body, causes many diseases, and affects the overall health of the smoker. Quitting smoking lowers the risk of smoking-related diseases and add years to the smoker’s life. Smoking cigarettes is the leading cause of preventable death. It constitutes nearly one in five deaths and causes more death than the following causes combined: HIV, Illegal Drug Use, Alcohol Use, Motor vehicle incidents. Smoking cigarettes increases the risk of death from all causes in men and women.

Take a look at some of the ways to control Tobacco use and eventually quit it.

Try Nicotine Replacement Therapy – Consult your doctor regarding Nicotine Replacement Therapy which includes prescription nicotine in nasal sprays & inhalers, Nicotine patches, gums, & lozenges and prescribed non-nicotine stop-smoking medications. Short-term Nicotine Replacement Therapy can help you overcome intense cravings and are safe to use in combination with long term Nicotine Patches or Non-nicotine medications. Electronic cigarettes emerged as a better alternative to traditional cigarettes recently. The long-term safety of this device is yet to be tested.
Avoid Triggers – An individual is more likely to get the urge of smoking in situations or places where he often used to smoke like in parties and bars or while having a cup of tea/coffee. One needs to identify their trigger points and avoid them entirely or get through them without smoking or chewing Tobacco.
Delay – When you get the craving for Tobacco, tell yourself to wait for 10 minutes first and then distract yourself for that period of time. Try going to public smoke-free zones to distract yourself from the craving.
Do not fall for the ‘Just One’ trap – It might be tempting to have one cigarette to satisfy your craving for Tobacco but once you fall in that trap, you cannot stop. Having one cigarette leads to the second one and you go back to the same loop you were trying to escape.
Physical Exercise – Physical Exercise can distract your craving for Tobacco and reduce its intensity. Walking, jogging or even a quick run can distract you and make your tobacco craving go away.
Chew on something – Give your mouth something to chew on to distract yourself from the tobacco craving. Chew on hard candy, sugarless gums, raw carrots or nuts – something crunchy and satisfying to make your tobacco craving go away.
Practice Relaxation Techniques – A lot of people use smoking as a way to deal with stress and quitting it altogether might be stressful as well. In such cases, it is essential to look for other ways to deal with stress through relaxation techniques such as breathing exercise, muscle relaxation, yoga and listening to calm music.
Keep reminding yourself the benefits of quitting – Keep reminding yourself the benefits of quitting tobacco such as feeling better & healthier, saving money and sparing your loved ones the hazards of passive smoking.

Get rid of the harmful habit of smoking with these tips & tricks and live a healthy life ahead. Replacing tobacco is now easier with readily available nicotine patches and nicotine gums alongside prescribed medications to control tobacco use.