For people who are trying to quit smoking, fear of coping and functioning without the addiction can be one of the greatest challenges to success. However, it is also important to note that the better a person’s health literacy and their understanding of the impacts of behaviors on the body, the better they are also able to make conscious choices for health and wellness.

One thing that is very important to be aware of regarding smoking is that it presents psychological, physical, and physiological dependence for most people. As a result, overcoming all these challenges at once can be overwhelming, but that does not mean that success is impossible. The use of hypnosis when quitting smoking can address emotional and some physical factors that patients face, and calling 866-863-4669 or emailing Joseph R. Giove at Stop Smoking Hypnosis Bay Area can get smokers who want to quite get started with the process.

The actual physiological changes that happen when a person quits smoking are a series of steps that the body will need to undergo as it returns to balance and health. To this end, there can be some factors of detoxing that smokers may not realize. However, the body is very efficient and effective in wanting to return to a natural state of wellness, and hypnosis with quitting smoking can even help to facilitate this factor.

Getting Rid of the Sludge

Perhaps the two most important points about physiological changes are also in regards to the specific types of toxins that are being eliminated. Obviously, differences in metabolism and overall health can impact how long it takes for the body to clean out, but as long as no more is consumed, nicotine will leave the system in an average of between 5 to 10 days. This also further indicates that while the physiological addiction to nicotine is as strong as that for opiates, it not only clears the system fairly quickly, but it also does not leave a lasting damage to the nerve receptors.

Technically, this does indicate that if a person can make it through the first week of not smoking, then they are also no longer physiologically addicted. However, this is where the emotional and physical aspects come in as challenges. These can also be further exacerbated by the actual sensations of detoxing from nicotine, which can include:

• Chills and aches
• Flushing
• Excessive sweating
• Irritability
• Erratic heart rate
• Blood pressure variations

What is very positive to note is that once nicotine is out of the body, these effects subside and eventually disappear once the body has regained balance. As cigarettes also contain a number of other chemicals, this detox period will also include their expulsion, usually through the skin. Some people will experience mild blemish break-outs or an acrid body odor as this happens, but this is also a temporary state on the path to health.

The other major issue with detoxing from smoking is the smoke itself, or more specifically, the tar that it forms in the lungs. Once a person has stopped adding further toxins to the lungs, these organs will also begin get rid of the toxins that have built up there. While this process can feel exhausting and can even evoke fear, it is always important to remember:

• The body has an innate ability to heal
• The mind supports this process

Bearing these concepts in mind can also help to support the overall process of quitting.

Regardless of how long a person has smoked, tar will begin to build up in the lungs and this both impairs the cilia in the respiratory tract and also hardens and deflates the alveoli, which is what makes it so difficult to breathe when one is a smoker. This also means that the lungs are only functioning at partial capacity, even though they may be working much harder to do so.

Once a person has quit cigarettes, the lungs will begin to heal, but there can be several steps to this. An initial experience that nearly all people who have quit will have is that coughing and the expulsion of sputum will increase considerably for up to several weeks. This is a combination of the lungs beginning to strengthen and rebuild capacity, as well as the cilia regaining mobility in order to move mucus and debris out of the respiratory tract.

For some people, this part of the healing process can be uncomfortable, especially as increased coughing will create a sensation of soreness, throughout the chest and core region. More often, people will feel a greater amount of pain in the diaphragm than in the lungs, as this is a foundation for clearing the lungs. However, once this stage has passed, there can be other healing factors that will be felt.

Once an excess of mucus and some of the tar has been expelled, the alveoli are also able to re-expand. What happens is that smokers have grown so used to shallow breathing that once the body begins to regain balance, and have the ability to expand the lungs more fully, a sensation of pain may be felt in the organs. Although this can be a disconcerting feeling, and can even leave people “feeling” that they are out of breath, these individuals are actually breathing better, getting more air, and expanding the lungs to their actual capacity.

It can be helpful to think of the lungs hurting when you quit smoking in the same manner that you would regarding starting to work out after a period of inactivity. The muscles will hurt because they are actually being used, and this is the same for the lungs. This also means that the more you work your lungs out, the less the pain will be present.

Knowing more about quitting and what to expect can greatly facilitate the ability to finally be able to stop smoking. Calling 866-863-4669 or emailing Joseph R. Giove at Stop Smoking Hypnosis Bay Area will also provide more information on healthy solutions, and can get you started on rebuilding your body from the inside out.