After many years of smoking I am concerned that I should give up while I still can. I have smoked for so long that I can hardly imagine not smoking but I know I must stop and I know it will be hard to do. I have been trying to find the best way to stop and I thought others would be interested too.

The most common way people try to stop smoking is by going cold turkey. You just stop smoking and fight the withdrawal symptoms. This does work for some people. They just wake up one morning and decide to stop smoking and that is it. They never touch another cigarette again.

For some people they need a replacement therapy such as a dummy cigarette. One of the habitual features of smoking is that you have something between your fingers and the idea is that by replacing that cigarette with something else to put between your fingers you can reduce the feeling of loss.

One old fashioned but sometimes effective approach is to smell an ashtray every time you fancy a cigarette. Even smokers with their reduced sense of smell and taste find the smell of an ashtray objectionable so this might be enough to convince you to stop smoking and even if it just puts off smoking a cigarette for a short while that is a help.

Nicotine patches are a more recent development and some people find these very effective. The idea is that by putting a patch on your skin which releases small amounts of nicotine into your body the cravings are reduced. They are quite expensive but it is only for a few weeks or months and they usually cost less than the smoking does .

The idea that inserting needles into parts of your body could stop you smoking seems a little odd. However, acupuncture has been around for thousands of years and has had some success in stopping people smoking. My brother stopped smoking for several years after acupuncture so it can work and if you have tried everything else to stop you smoking then you might want to give acupunctue a go.

Willpower is the most powerful way to stop smoking but also the hardest to do. You do need to be very strong willed and determined not to smoke any longer. To help build that strength of determination some people turn to hypnotism and when you think about it this all makes good sense. If you can strengthen your subconscious desire not to smoke then you are building your resolve and strengthening your willpower. Some people claim almost instant results using this method and it may be better than other ways because your sub concious desire is strong that you will not smoke again.