It is not at all wrong to say that the nicotine patch is today the most popular stop smoking aid in the world, which is used by several smokers to kick their habit. Perhaps their popularity stems from the fact that they are extremely easy to use, as the way to use them is just to stick them somewhere onto the skin.
These transdermal nicotine patches are available in differing capacities such as 21 mg, 14 mg and 7 mg of nicotine for hardened, moderate and mild smokers respectively. Smokers are to choose the nicotine patches as per their smoking habits.
But, the nicotine patches have their grave disadvantages, howsoever much popular they might be. Doctors are aware of these shortcomings and they do warn their patients about them at the onset. Firstly, the nicotine patch does contain nicotine. The theory behind making a nicotine supplement for the smoker is that he or she will not find the craving that bad as nicotine is slowly pumped into the body system.
The theory is that it is not nicotine that kills people; it is the carbon monoxide and the tar in the cigarettes that kills them. Nicotine is there only for the addiction. For this reason, the patches contain nicotine.
However, this in itself is a big problem. If the person is kept on nicotine patches, there is a very less chance that he or she will ever be de-addicted from nicotine. Nicotine might be harmless, but its addiction will continue in some form or the other. It is quite understandable if the person returns back to the nicotine in the cigarette, since he or she has never been de-addicted in the first place.
There have been many cases of people who have reverted to active smoking even after long-term nicotine patch treatments. If this happens, then the chance of a heart failure increases, especially if the person also continues to consume alcohol.
The continuous use of nicotine patches at a particular place on the skin can cause irritations like itching after a few days. This is because of the adhesive and the nicotine itself. Some people could discontinue the nicotine patch just to get rid of the itching. Then they might go back to smoking cigarettes.
That is the reason why a totally new stop smoking aid has become very popular today. A herbal formulation, SmokeRX, is perhaps the most popular natural remedy for controlling the smoking habit. Actually there are many herbs that can help a smoker to quit smoking.
Some of the most common ones are chamomile, kava kava and St. Johns Wort. There are formulations of these herbs available online, which can quite easily and conveniently wean the smoker away from his or her habit.
Herbal remedies work at two different levels. They help the person control the urge for smoking and they also repair the damage that has already been done in the body. The herbal stop smoking aid is available in several convenient forms, such as pills, capsules, powders and even herbal cigarettes, which do not contain even a trace of nicotine in them.