This page is aimed at helping you quit smoking.

Through my training as a lung surgeon I've been sent to numerous courses and workshops on how to help our patients quit smoking. Some of these experiences were highly illuminating and I feel like this is knowledge and information that must be shared with the public.

Below are a series of regular posts about how to start the process of quitting smoking. Check in regularly for updated content and tips.

If you're serious about quitting smoking.......

....You're not alone.

Seek help. It exists.

First 3 steps to quit smoking:

1) Make the decision public

2) Change the way you speak...... to yourself

3) Remove temptation

These 3 steps are all about setting your mindset for victory. If you are truly motivated to stop smoking these will come very naturally and will feel right. For those who are less convinced this is the hardest step. I always tell patient that we can easily help people who want to quit smoking but it is nearly impossible to make someone stop smoking. So the initial steps boil down to how badly you want to stop smoking.

The Science

Studies have shown that the hardest part of quitting smoking is not the nicotine withdrawals but the psychosocial aspect of the cigarette. It is for this reason that cigarette became so popular to begin with. There were other forms of nicotine consumption in the past such as snuff or chewing tobacco which never gained the popularity of smoking. This psychosocial addiction is very hard to treat and requires a lifestyle change which will be advised to you on an individual basis. It is important however to deal with this habituation first before attempting to resolve the nicotine addiction.

For this reason a good nicotine replacement regime is essential to remove the withdrawals and avoid you dealing with both addictions (psychosocial and nicotine) at the same time. There's plenty of science behind how nicotine replacement works and some forms may be more effective than others. The definitive common trait is they they work best once blood nicotine levels are low. The effectiveness of nicotine replacement regimes is very much reduced if you are smoking cigarettes in between them. A personalised nicotine replacement regime will be set for you to follow while you deal with the psychosocial habituation first.