Treatment of the week

As reported in OK! Magazine on March 19 2007, Page 80

Treatment:

Really want to stop smoking? Laser therapy is a new treatment that uses a low-level laser beam aimed at energy points on the body. It works by stimulating acupressure points for the treatment of nicotine addiction, while stimulating endorphins to aid the effects of withdrawal.

We sent OK!’s senior designer,Pepita Wilson, to see if it really works.

Our Experience: ‘First up we had a quick chat, to make sure I was 100 percent sure I wanted to quit and it wasn’t just a whim. I then sat in a reclining chair and put on a pair of dorky protection sunglasses. A little metal pen-shaped tool with a flat head was pressed firmly and slowly onto my skin for about 20 seconds at a time into certain parts of my hand, arm, and face. All I could feel was the pressure from the pen and a slight tingling around my ears and face. The sessions were painless and quick, about half an hour. I even fell asleep towards the end of one session!’

TRY LASER THERAPY

As reported in Woman’s Day on 19 March 2007, Page 80

Ready for a new approach to quitting? It uses a low-level cold laser beam aimed at energy points in your hands, arms, ears and face. “I’d tried patches, cold turkey, everything. I just couldn’t get past the addiction. I thought, ‘I’ll give it one last go’,” says Jo.

LaserQuit works by stimulating acupressure points for the treatment of nicotine addiction. At the same time it stimulates endorphins (the body’s natural painkillers) to aid the effects of withdrawal.

STOP SMOKING

As reported in Slimming & Health on February 2007, Page 69

WHAT: LaserQuit
Uses a low-level cold laser beam to target acupressure points which relate to nicotine addiction. This treatment also stimulates endorphins to ease the cravings and stress associated with withdrawal. This procedure CANNOT make you quit if you haven’t first made the firm decision to do so yourself.

TESTER: Kim Buchanan, 35, real-estate office manager

‘I had tried to quit smoking a few times before – I’d tried Zyban tablets and going cold turkey but I always returned to smoking. LaserQuit appealed because it was a quick process and you didn’t have to use any patches or drugs to do it. You lie down in a dentist-type chair , they lower you back and a laser pen is pointed on the same areas used for acupuncture, like on the face and in your ears. They apply a little bit of pressure and zap it with a laser – the whole process takes about half an hour and you pretty much almost fall asleep, it’s quite a relaxing environment.

LaserQuit A NEW ALTERNATIVE

As reported in Sunday Telegraph, Body and Soul on 31 December 2006, page 5

Kim Buchanan, 35, has made at least five attempts to quit smoking.”I woke up one day and decided I didn’t want to be a slave to nicotine anymore,” she says.

Buchanan, a real estate administrator from Kogarah, NSW, went cold turkey four times as a New Year’s resolution, but each time she only lasted about a week.

In 2006, however, Buchanan heard about LaserQuit. Established in Australia in 2004 after helping thousands of smokers successfully quit in the USA and Europe, it uses a low-level, cold laser beam aimed at acupressure points in the hands, arms, ears and face to treat nicotine addiction.

Stop Smoking Sydney