Does a quit smoking laser really work? Can it help you to quit smoking? The idea is certainly seductive enough for any smoker who has struggled to put down cigarettes before. It is like the promise of a new technology, a bit mysterious, and so there is secret hope that this is the magic cure that everyone has been waiting for. It is effortless and takes no real commitment on the part of the smoker. Just lay down and let them shoot this laser beam into your body at certain pressure points. You feel no pain and in fact feel nothing at all. And the idea is that it will stimulate endorphin production and make your brain and your body feel better while you are going through nicotine withdrawal. That is the idea anyway.
Does it work?
No one knows for sure, because the companies that provide the service have refused to allow clinical trials to be conducted. Clinical trials are not just some study that is loosely thrown together, they have to be controlled and double blind in order to be rigorous and thorough. That means that you would take a large group of people who want to quit smoking, and give half of them the laser therapy, and give the other half a look alike “fake laser therapy” without telling any of the participants whether they were getting the real laser therapy or the fake stuff. Then you measure the results.
You see the quit smoking laser therapy people will not allow this type of rigorous, controlled study to be conducted because they have a good idea as to the outcome. They know that their laser therapy is basically a sham and might only help people a tiny bit, but not enough to really affect much. It would be like charging people hundreds of dollars to help them quit smoking and then just show them how to sit quietly and meditate for 10 minutes each day. Is that a scam? Sort of. It might help a bit, but does it really cure smoking? Is it targeted enough and helpful enough to really make a difference in clinical trials? The answer is obviously NO. If it was, then the industry would run the trials and use the positive outcome as a huge selling point and the industry would explode, because it would actually work and be beneficial.
If you want to use a quit smoking aid to help you, look to see proof from clinical trials first. Those are the standard of proof that you should demand when you are going to subject yourself to treatment of any kind.
