Help for Quitting Smoking

BA Weight Spa of Broken Arrow can help you keep your resolution to quit smoking.

Dr. James Campbell and co-owner Malissa Spacek, (second and third from right) with the staff of BA Weight Spa (L to R): Donna Whaley, John Brinkman, Meg Sutherland and P.J. Shepard.

There is an old saying: “The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.” Now that 2011 is well under way, many people may be facing the veracity of this statement when it comes to whatever New Year’s resolution they set for themselves. According to USA.gov, one of the most common New Year’s resolutions is to quit smoking. But like many other resolutions, this one will often seem insurmountable as the weeks pass into months.

According to Dr. James Campbell of BA Weight Spa, the resolution to quit smoking need not go awry. The center offers auriculotherapy, a lesser known, yet highly effective remedy for those who long to kick their cigarette habit once and for all.

Auriculotherapy applies electrical stimulation to the outside rim of the ear, where there are a multitude of pressure points affecting different areas of the body. The process is non-invasive and painless. Dr. Campbell learned about the treatment from local expert Jim Shores, who has practiced and taught auriculotherapy in the Tulsa area for almost four decades and who has travelled the globe – to countries like France, Germany, China and Spain, among others – learning and teaching about auriculotherapy. “This treatment is akin to neurotherapy and acupuncture,” says Shores. “If done correctly, it has an 80 percent success rate for quitting smoking.” Shores further relates that if a person has a strong desire to quit, the success rate escalates significantly.

Dr. Campbell is glad to offer such a treatment to patients for several reasons. “When you use auriculotherapy for smoking cessation, you do not run the risk of unwanted side effects that often come with prescription medications,” he says. “With auriculotherapy, smoking cessation can be completed in as little as one to three sessions.” He points out that even though insurance companies do not yet cover the procedure, it can be viewed as inexpensive when one considers that the cost of a round of sessions is generally equal to the cost of one month’s supply of cigarettes.

Auriculotherapy is actually based on ancient Chinese acupuncture, but the modern version of the treatment was formed in the 1950s when a French physician, Dr. Paul Nogier, examined a patient who had a scar on his ear, placed there during treatment of sciatica. Through further research, he discovered that a whole multitude of ills, including back pain, TMJ, carpal tunnel syndrome, bursitis, multiple addictions, and many others, could be treated by applying needle-free stimuli to external ear reflex areas. The process evolved into what has become today’s auriculotherapy. To learn more about the topic, including a recent $1.3 million federal government study on auriculotherapy, visit ­www.electrotherapy.com.

Auriculotherapy is only one of the ways in which Dr. Campbell and the staff at BA Weight Spa endeavor to help patients improve their health and wellbeing. As always, they stand ready with customized weight loss and nutrition programs and revolutionary skin care treatments to help you look and feel your best year-round. For an extensive list of services and products, visit www.baweightspa.com.

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BA Weight Spa

www.baweightspa.com