Shine a Light on Killer Smoking Habit

by Annette Mavety New  

Laser therapy is the latest way of beating nicotine addiction.

‘Most of our clients can’t believe they were heavy smokers one minute, and were non-smokers less than an hour later ’ ONLY a smoker can understand how hard it is to give up fags. Every smoker knows the dreaded weed is damaging his or her health and could even kill them, they know the smokes are costing them a fortune, they have listened to their doctors’ lectures about the health risks, and they have been horrified by the graphic pictures printed on their cigarette packets.

They know they should quit. But they can’t. Most have tried all or some of the many methods on the market, including nicotine patches, gum, hypnotism, Zyban and cold turkey, with varied success. A few have been successful, either for a short term or permanently, but the rest of us have been sucked back into the vice-like grip of the killer drug, either giving up on giving up, or working out ways to postpone the next quit attempt.

But there is now a new state-of-the-art method on the market – laser therapy – which has a proven international success rate of 86 per cent. Annie Mavety, who runs The Stop Smoking Clinic Pty Ltd on the Gold Coast, was once a smoker so she knows how tough it is to stop. She says it took her many, many attempts before she finally stubbed out her last cigarette 20 years ago, and understands exactly how her clients feel. ‘‘But our Clinics, in Tweed Heads, Ballina, Coffs Harbour, Port Macquarie, Charlestown & Erina have had close to a 90 per cent success rate since we opened in January last year,’’ she says.

‘‘Most of our clients can’t believe they were heavy smokers one minute, and were non smokers less than an hour later.’’

The non-invasive laser treatment usually takes about half-an-hour and there are no needles, drugs, pills, patches, pain or withdrawal symptoms. You don’t even have to take your clothes off. The patient simply lies back on a comfortable couch while the clinician treats them with the laser machine, which is similar to a penlight torch. The operator aims the low-level laser light at specific spots on the body, starting with the lower legs, then up to the arms and inside the elbows, moving on to the ears and face, and finally to the top of the skull. The laser leaves a pleasantly warm and tingling feeling as it does its work.

‘‘We aim the laser at specific points on the body, which coincide with acupuncture points linked to smoking and nicotine addiction,’’ says Ms Mavety. ‘‘That releases endorphins, which in turn gives the patient the same feel-good feeling they get when they light a cigarette.’’ The treatment comes complete with a list of after-care strategies designed to combat the habit side of the addiction and to control any lasting urge to light up for ‘just one more puff’. The strategies include keeping nuts, dried fruit and water in the car and beside the phone to counter the hand-to mouth habit, drinking lots of anti-oxidants such as green tea or fruit juice to remove the toxins, and wearing a rubber band on your right wrist to remind you that you are now a non smoker. If, for any reason, the patient suffers a setback, (let’s face it, even smokers are human) he or she can come back for a retreatment at no extra cost. ‘‘We are always at the end of the phone for any of our patients who might need follow-up advice or treatment,’’ says Ms Mavety. She says Laser Therapy could also help patients to lose weight or beat alcohol or marijuana addictions.

The Stop Smoking Clinic Pty Ltd has clinics in:

Coffs Harbour, Tweed Heads, Ballina, Port Macquarie,
Charlestown & Erina
www.stopsmokingclinic.com.au
1300 448 387