The stop smoking patch, also known as the nicotine patch, is becoming very popular today in quitting smoking. This is a rectangular patch that is supposed to be attached onto the skin. The main intention of the nicotine patch is to reduce the craving for cigarettes. This is how the nicotine patch works.
The main ingredient of the stop smoking patch is nicotine. Nicotine from the patch is slowly absorbed into the persons body. Due to this, the persons urge for nicotine is met with, and he or she does not find the craving for cigarettes. It is necessary to understand how nicotine can help in controlling the smoking habit.
Nicotine is the main addictive substance in the cigarette, but it not the most harmful substance. The substance that causes harm in the cigarette is tar. When a person is using the stop smoking patch, he or she is answering the urge for nicotine, but keeping away from the harmful effects of the tar.
Stop smoking patches are available in three different variations, with differing amounts of nicotine in them. They can contain 21 mg, 14 mg and 7 mg of nicotine. This is so that people can choose the nicotine patch they want according to their smoking habit. One cigarette contains about 1 mg of nicotine in it. So, the patch chosen will be according to the total number of cigarettes the smoker smokes in a day. If a person is a heavy smoker, then he or she should initially start with the concentrated patches and then should gradually work their way down. The idea is to slowly cut down on the amount of nicotine taken till the addiction vanishes.
Of course, there is widespread criticism of such a method, even though it is so popular. Some people cannot understand why nicotine is used to remove nicotine addiction in the first place. And they are not totally wrong, either. Stop smoking patches can keep the body away from the harmful effects of nicotine, but they may not actually keep the person away from the nicotine addiction. There have been cases when people have reverted back to their cigarettes when the use of the patch has been discontinued.
There are also some health problems that stop smoking patches can produce. They can cause heart ailments in people with certain other medical complications. Nicotine affects the nervous system, due to which these patches can cause vivid nightmares and other vigorous dreams if kept on at nighttime. But if the patch is removed at bedtime, then there could be a craving for a cigarette early in the morning. Also, the stop smoking patch could be irritating for people with sensitive skin due to the adhesive in it.
However, the stop smoking patches have become very popular, because they have shown positive results in people who use them diligently. If used for a long time, the craving for smoking does reduce, but the problem is very few users of nicotine patches keep the treatment on for a long time. The number of people reverting back to active smoking is quite high for this method to get universal recommendation.