“What is the success rate of acupuncture for quitting smoking?”

4 treatments per year of addiction

If you have the desire and willingness to quit smoking, acupuncture can help a lot. Because of the variables, I believe the success rate is a bit more than 50%.

We ha a very high success rate. You can go to www.houstonquitsmoking.com and find out from both written and video testimonials, that many small groups coming to ALL QUIT: no failure.

That really depends on how a provider screens patients to be excepted into a stop smoking acupuncture program. Or if that process is done at all. Properly screened patients to be admitted into a program have a high success rate.

It would help if we first defined what "quitting" means for you. Quitting forever? I could not tell you, as most people who come to see me don't stay in touch for me to know how successful they were long term. But for quitting temporarily, at worst, I'd say 50/50. And usually, the 50 who fail sabotage themselves or don't follow instructions.

Hmmm my feeling is that if you really want to quit it works well.

It will support your effort to quit smoking by controlling urges and desires. The success rate depends on your effort.
Dr. Leila

One study shows an 88% success rate. Some older studies show there is no difference between acupuncture and other smoking cessation remedies. I think the main concern is how determined both the client and the practitioner are to contribute to smoking cessation. In my practice, I require the patient/client to invest at least one week straight for early morning appointments to help get treated for smoking cessation. Thru thorough research, my treatments involved would include auricular acupuncture, cupping/massage, and herbal supplementation. Unfortunately, I haven’t had anyone as committed yet for such aggressive treatment, but with the very few treatments of acupuncture for smoking cessation as a side complaint my patients have mentioned, they have an easier time cutting down on smoking regardless of habit and/or craving. Definitely check with your primary to see if alternative medicine would be beneficial for your condition.

There are really good acupuncture protocols to help you quit smoking. The most important aspect is that you have to WANT to quit.

Acupuncture can be very successful for smoking cessation, but the patient must want to quit.

Acupuncture can be extremely helpful in quitting smoking, but you have to want to quit. I have found that if a patient is trying to quit because "they should," or because "so-and-so wants them to," that acupuncture doesn't help at all. When someone comes to me and they're ready to do the work, acupuncture is incredibly successful. So much so, I've been able to help someone with only one treatment as they continued to work with a meditation practice I gave them, and another by using only ear seeds (acupressure) that they applied themselves.

I have quite a good success rate with helping people quit smoking. You have to change some routines and habits, but if you're really serious about quitting, one person described it as cigarettes going from filet mignon to hamburger.

Good luck!!

The success rate of acupuncture for quitting smoking is 95%.

Studies typically show around a 50% success rate with smoking cessation.

Honestly, the success rate probably varies by acupuncturist. Some folks are pretty good with these types of issue and some folks aren't. Addictive behaviors are also complicated by patient choices. If a person isn't ready to quit smoking, there's no needle that is going to make them ready to quit smoking.

Specific to acupuncture and Chinese medicine in the US is the further complicating factor that not all acupuncture providers have actually attended and graduated from an accredited school of Chinese medicine. Some 'acupuncturists' will have 100 hours or less of training in acupuncture and Chinese medicine, this makes it hard to estimate their actual skill level in the modality - some will be pretty good, others won't be good at all.

If you're looking to try acupuncture to help quit smoking (or to help someone you know quit smoking), you're looking for someone with an NCCAOM national board certification (a Dipl Ac or Dipl OM credential) along with a state issued L.Ac. or R.Ac. credential. Without both those things, it's kind of like an adult going to a pediatrician to deal with a brain tumor - yes a pediatrician is an MD, but their training doesn't cover that particular issue in the adult age group.

NCCAOM.org has a 'Find a Practitioner' lookup which you can use to find someone with the proper credentials in your area.