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Smoking is bad for your health, but exactly how will stopping make life better?

Here are some ways your health and life will improve when you stop smoking.

People breathe more easily and cough less when they give up smoking because their lung capacity improves by up to 10% within nine months.

In your 20s and 30s, the effect of smoking on your lung capacity may not be noticeable until you go for a run, but lung capacity naturally diminishes with age.

In later years, having maximum lung capacity can mean the difference between having an active, healthy old age and wheezing when you go for a walk or climb the stairs.

Within 2 to 12 weeks of stopping smoking your blood circulation improves. This makes all physical activity, including walking and running, much easier.

You will also give a boost to your immune system, making it easier to fight off colds and flu. The increase in oxygen in the body can also reduce tiredness and the likelihood of headaches.

The withdrawal from nicotine between cigarettes can heighten feelings of stress. As the stress of withdrawal feels the same as other stresses, it's easy to confuse normal stress with nicotine withdrawal.  So, it can seem like smoking is reducing other stresses whereas this is not the case.

In fact, scientific studies show people's stress levels are lower after they stop smoking.

Stopping smoking improves the body's blood flow so improves sensitivity.

Men who stop smoking may get better erections. Women may find their orgasms improve and they become aroused more easily.

It's also been found that non-smokers are three times more appealling to prospective partners than smokers.

Non-smokers find it easier to get pregnant. Quitting smoking improves the lining of the womb and can make men's sperm more potent.

Becoming a non-smoker increases the possibility of conceiving through IVF, and reduces the likelihood of having a miscarriage.

Most importantly, it improves the chances of giving birth to a healthy baby.

When you stop smoking, your senses of smell and taste get a boost. You may notice that food tastes and smells different as your mouth and nose recover from being dulled by the hundreds of toxic chemicals found in cigarettes.

Stopping smoking has been found to slow facial ageing and delay the appearance of wrinkles.

The skin of a non-smoker gets more nutrients, including oxygen, and stopping smoking can reverse the sallow, lined complexion that smokers often have.

Giving up tobacco stops teeth becoming stained, and you'll have fresher breath. Ex-smokers are also less likely than smokers to get gum disease and lose their teeth prematurely.

Half of all long-term smokers die early from smoking-related diseases, including heart disease, lung cancer and chronic bronchitis.

Men who quit smoking by the age of 30 add 10 years to their life. People who kick the habit at 60 add three years to their life.

In other words, it's never too late to benefit from stopping. Being smoke-free not only adds years to your life, but also greatly improves your chances of a disease-free, mobile, happier old age.

By stopping smoking, you'll be protecting the health of your non-smoking friends and family, too.

Breathing in secondhand smoke increases the risk of lung cancer, heart disease and stroke. In children it doubles the risk of getting chest illnesses, including pneumonia, ear infections, wheezing and asthma.

They also have three times the risk of getting lung cancer in later life compared with children who live with non-smokers.

There are many health concerns that surround e-cigarettes. For example:

• They are untried/untested over a long period of time.
• The effect of the propylene glycol chemical used to create the vaping fumes is untested over time. In fact the manufacturer (Dow chemicals) recommends that it is not inhaled because for many people it is known to act as an irritant to their lungs.
• Similarly, the flavourings used in e-cigarettes have been approved and tested for ingestion - but not for inhalation, and the digestive system is far more robust than the delicate lungs and respiratory system.
• Tests have indicated that rather then helping users to quit smoking/vaping altogether instead the use of e-cigarettes tends to keep people smoking - because they can use the e-cigarette in places where smoking is not allowed.
• There are concerns that the nicotine inhaled from vaping e-cigarettes will continue to interact with the tar residues that are present in an ex-smokers lungs - such that the damaging effect on the lungs from switching to vaping is little different to continuing smoking
• There are concerns that additional, unapproved, chemicals and drugs will be added to e-cigarettes in an attempt to make them more attractive, and 'addictive'.
• The propylene glycol vaping fumes generated when vaping is not steam (as has been claimed by e-cigarette advocates and marketers) - it is fumes of propylene glycol, nicotine, and additives that eventually contaminates the environment in which the e-cig is used - potentially depositing nicotine and assorted chemical constituents onto food and other surfaces that need to be cleaned.
• The proven concerns of non-smokers regarding secondary inhalation and passive smoking of smoke from a smoker's cigarette also exist regarding the secondary 'vaping' of the fumes from an e-cigarette, which may also have additional and unapproved chemicals and drugs added, such that maybe the passive non-vaper should not drive or operate machinery.

See here for a e-cig health warning and some more detailed health concerns about the use of e-cigarettes.

If you are thinking of stopping smoking using e-cigarettes it would probably be better for you to first try to Stop Smoking - The Best Way (see the next section) and, if unsuccessful, then e-mail Peter to arrange a consultation for a course of smoking cessation therapy to reduce your stress and anxiety levels and boost your will power before making your final, determined, and successful, attempt to stop smoking, or vaping, for good !

In general, smokers who find it difficult to stop smoking fall into one of two categories:

• The 'habitual smoker'. Smoking, and nicotine use, is a habit. The habitual smoker can stop smoking any time they want. Except that they don't know that, because the 'nicotine industry' has encouraged them to believe that they are addicted to the nicotine in cigarettes and tobacco products - and so they don't try that hard to quit tobacco or nicotine use and, when they try to quit, they soon resume smoking again. The habitual smoker could probably easily quit 'cold turkey', if they knew it. Instead, they persist with their smoking habit because they believe that they have an addiction and quitting smoking will be too difficult for them to do.
• The 'psychologically dependent smoker'. These are people who, although they might appear calm, are easily stressed or have a high level of anxiety. They smoke to 'self-medicate', and calm themselves down and use smoking as a crutch to help them to cope with the numerous stressful incidents that happen daily in normal day to day life. Typically they started smoking very young and have relied on smoking to get them through things - and therefore haven't developed the psychological coping skills that a non-smoker has been forced to develop when faced with the challenges that life brings. They truly have a 'psychological dependency' - which may be a symptom of an underlying Anxiety Disorder.

Here at the Surrey Hypnotherapy Clinic we know that there is nothing better to build self-confidence and self-esteem of a smoker like them being able to stop smoking, by themselve, without any help.

Therefore, the essentials that a smoker needs to quit smoking, using the 'cold turkey' method, which is ideal for habitual smokers, is detailed in the following article:  Stop Smoking - The Best Way.

Should you try the above method, and still find that you still simply cannot stop yourself from smoking then it may be that you are a 'psychologically dependent' smoker - in which case you will probably need a short course of therapy first to reduce your stress and/or anxiety levels prior to stopping smoking. This will give you the confidence to deal with stressful situations that might occur - those situations where you would have previously coped by having a cigarette.

For 'psychologically dependent' smokers the best thing to do is to e-mail Peter to arrange a consultation for a course of smoking cessation therapy to reduce your stress and anxiety levels and boost your will power before making your final, determined, and successful, attempt to stop smoking for good.

Ok. You've stopped smoking. That's great !

And you haven't switched to vaping e-cigarettes either. Even better !

However please be aware that the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommends yearly lung cancer screening with LDCT (Low Dose Computed Tomography) for people who were heavy smokers. Find out more about Continuing Health Care for Current & Former Smokers.

YOUR NEXT STEP...

If you have tried, and been unsuccesful, at quitting smoking or vaping using the techniques outlined in Stop Smoking - The Best Way then either:

Contact Peter to make an appointment for a free initial consultation for a course of smoking cessation therapy.

or

Read Peter's website welcome letter.

The Surrey Hypnotherapy Clinic TM

For professional, caring and confidential help, advice, therapy or treatment for, or about, any of the above issues or topics, or similar, just contact Peter, preferably by e-mail, to arrange an appointment for your free initial consultation.

Or maybe instead read Peter's Website Welcome Letter, or go to the home page and view The Surrey Hypnotherapy Clinic's Smoking Cessation Video Girls and their Website Welcome Video.

Select here for some additional background Articles about Stopping Smoking and E-Cigarettes.

Smoking and Vaping by a 'psychologically dependent smoker' may be a symptom of an underlying anxiety disorder.  Six major anxiety disorders have been formally identified, each with their own distinct symptom profile. You can read more about the anxiety disorders here:

• Anxiety Disorders - General
• Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD)
• Panic Disorder (Anxiety Attacks or Panic Attacks)
• OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder)
• Phobic Disorder (Phobias)
• Social Anxiety Disorder (Social Phobia)
• PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder)

Select a town or district place name close to your location to see the route/direction of The Surrey Hypnotherapy Clinic from your selected town or district:

Towns & Districts/Boroughs in Surrey:

Addlestone Banstead Camberley Chertsey Dorking Egham

Elmbridge Epsom Ewell Farnham Godalming Guildford Knaphill

Leatherhead Mole Valley Reigate Runnymede Spelthorne

Staines Sunbury Surrey Surrey Heath Tandridge Waverley 

West Byfleet Weybridge Woking

Towns & Districts/Boroughs in Hampshire(Hants):

Aldershot East Hants Farnborough Hampshire Hart Rushmoor

Towns & Districts/Boroughs in Berkshire(Berks):

Berkshire (Berks) Bracknell Bracknell Forest Maidenhead

Reading Slough Windsor Wokingham 

Addictions, Alcohol Abuse, Anger Management, Anorexia, Anxiety Disorders, Binge Drinking, Binge Eating, Bulimia, Blushing, Bruxism, Childbirth, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Compulsions, Compulsive Behaviour, Depression, Drug Abuse, Eating Disorders, Emotional Problems (e.g. Anger, Rage, Sadness, Jealousy, Suspicion, Paranoia,Grief, Guilt, Shame, Trauma), Exam Stress, Fear of Flying, Food Addiction, Problem Gaming and Gambling Addiction, Gastric Band Hypnotherapy, Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD), Habits, Insomnia, Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), Low Self Confidence, Low Self Esteem, Obsessions, OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder), Pain Management, Panic Disorder (Anxiety Attacks or Panic Attacks), Phobic Disorder (Phobias), PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder), Public Speaking, Smoking or Vaping, Relationship Issues, Relaxation, Sadness, Sex Addiction, Sexual Issues, Sleep Disorders, Social Anxiety Disorder (Social Phobia), Sports Performance, Stress, Stuttering, Tinnitus, Weight Loss

The Surrey Hypnotherapy Clinic serves the Surrey boroughs of Elmbridge, Epsom and Ewell, Guildford, Mole Valley, Reigate and Banstead, Runnymede, Spelthorne, Surrey Heath, Tandridge, Waverley and Woking.

For Hypnosis therapy and Hypnotherapy in Surrey, the Surrey towns of: Addlestone, Aldershot, Bracknell, Byfleet, Camberley, Epsom, Farnborough, Godalming, Guildford, Knaphill, Leatherhead, Runnymede, Staines, Sunbury, Walton, West Byfleet, Weybridge and Woking are all within a short 30 minute drive from Woking Hypnosis Hypnotherapist Peter Back at the Surrey Hypnotherapy Clinic,

If you would like to find out more about how Surrey Hypnotherapist Peter Back might be able to help you, or if you are simply looking for the best help, advice, therapy or treatment, from a highly qualified and experienced Psychoanalyst, Psychotherapist, Hypnotherapist or Hypnotist, just contact Peter by e-mail, at the Surrey Hypnotherapy Clinic, Woking, to arrange an appointment to learn more about Hypnosis and Peter's own unique form of specialist, evidence based, Hypnotherapy and Psychotherapy.

Acknowledgements

http://www.nhs.uk/livewell/smoking/Pages/stopsmokingnewhome.aspx

http://www.nhs.uk/news/2013/05May/Pages/US-guidelines-recommend-CT-scans-for-smokers.aspx

https://www.cdc.gov/cancer/lung/basic_info/screening.htm

http://evidencebasedpsychotherapy.com/therapist-directory/name/peter-back/

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