Essential oils have become a mainstay of well-loved home remedies. Extracted from plants and blended into aromatic compounds, massage solvents, and cosmetics, these oils have proven health benefits, including muscle relief, skin nourishment, and even alleviating depressive symptoms.
One underrated use for them, however, is smoking cessation. As it is, recent statistics found that only about 8% of all smokers who attempt to quit the habit succeed.
Fortunately, essential oils can help you quit smoking for good. Here’s how, as well as ways you can accentuate its potency.
How Essential Oils Can Help You Quit Smoking
As a whole, essential oils help you quit smoking by being an alternative to cigarette usage and a method to diminish withdrawal symptoms.
Black pepper essential oil, for instance, can stimulate the respiratory system, similar to the act of smoking, and using it through an essential oil inhaler can support your smoking abstinence.
On the other hand, if you’re suffering from withdrawal symptoms like fatigue and headaches, essential oils like peppermint can give you a refreshing boost after application to the neck and forehead.
Overall, essential oils are a powerful tool that assuages the temptation to reach for a cigarette.
How to improve the efficacy of essential oils for smoking cessation
Use lavender oil and acupuncture for pain relief
Traditional Chinese medicine believes that essential oils can uplift or ground the spirit and strengthen immunity—vital in treating the physically and emotionally taxing symptoms of smoking.
Lavender oil is exceptionally robust with its anti-inflammatory and pain relief effects. You can enhance these benefits with acupuncture, which can lessen bodily pain by stimulating the central nervous system.
It's often used alongside essential oils, so you can easily ask your acupuncturist to apply lavender to your body's acupuncture points before inserting the needle.
Leverage Angelica essential oil and NRT products to alleviate withdrawal symptoms
Known as the 'oil of the angels,' Angelica essential oil can give you solace from stress-related conditions, such as withdrawal symptoms. Its anxiolytic effects regulate the cravings often induced during smoking cessation. You can apply it to your skin or slip it onto a diffuser.
To support Angelica essential oil's withdrawal relief, you can use nicotine replacement therapy (NRT). This involves using tobacco-free nicotine products like pouches and patches to reduce your dependence on cigarettes.
The nicotine pouches listed on Prilla from all the major pouch brands are great for those who are trying to quit cigarettes, chewing tobacco, regular snus, or any other tobacco product. They can also be taken without any of the usual consequences of tobacco, such as excess dripping or bad breath.
The pouches are discreetly placed between your gum and upper lip for nicotine absorption. Each brand comes in a wide range of strengths, so you can easily find a substitute for your former smoking habits.
For example, those who require a higher strength can look to HIT, as they have pouches that go up to 15mg. Meanwhile, nicotine patches are available in most retailers like CVS. These transdermal adhesives slowly disperse nicotine into the bloodstream through the skin.
Like pouches, it's more effective if you start with a potent nicotine strength and then lower your dosage over time—and even better if you use either product with Angelica essential oil. Apply an NRT, turn on your diffuser, and observe your cravings melt away.
Practice Mindfulness with Frankincense and Journaling
Smoking cessation doesn't happen overnight, and this might make the process even more daunting. Ruminating like this, however, is counter-productive.
For smoking cessation to work, you must ground yourself in the present—and frankincense essential oil can help you do just that. Its spicy, woody scent enables you to focus on the present while strengthening your bronchial muscles to help you breathe easier.
Consider leveraging the power of pen and ink to enhance the effects of frankincense on your quit-smoking process. Mindful journaling can reduce stress and anxiety, allowing you to slow down and take a few minutes to be grateful of the progress you've made so far.
Combined with a diffusion of frankincense essential oil, you have the keys to a calming ritual you can turn to when you feel overwhelmed. You can also drop a few drops of your frankincense essential oil onto some tissue and more directly inhale the comforting scent as you write.
The contents of your journal are entirely up to you. Try starting by tracking your smoke cessation progress or jumping off from writing prompts that let you be more conscious of your hard-won, smoke-free present.
Essential oils can be a balm to the roughest parts of your quit-smoking journey. Use the above strategies to make full use of them.
