Need A Light?
Laser therapy might be a smoker’s secret weapon.

By Linda Bachrack

Dec. 23, 2004

My mood is as bleak as the gray, snowy day. My head is pounding and I feel a vague sense of melancholy as I wade through the slush to enter the place that claims to have the miracle cure for my addiction. I feel like I’m about to lose my best friend, my companion, or worse, my lover. And the panic is familiar and breathtaking. I have left five cigarettes at home on the dining room table - too self-defeating to have them in my purse, immediately available. It’s two days before Christmas, and I’m facing more than a week off from work, at home alone, with no distractions, what am I thinking?

The environment at Royal Oak’s new Freedom Laser Therapy center is peaceful, soothing. I start to relax noticeably as owner Craig Nabat, originally from Michigan, now living in California, pulls up a chair in the room and engages me in a personal conversation about my relationship to nicotine. I confide in him as I would a therapist, admitting my reluctance to quit smoking, my fear of failure and my dependence on my addiction. Some people think smoking is nothing more than a bad habit or a psychological dependency, something that can be overcome with willpower and resolve, much like they perceive overeating.

But Nabat stresses the physical addiction, in fact an addiction that is so powerful that 79 percent of people who want to quit, can’t “Nicotine is a pleasurable narcotic,” he says. “When the nicotine level goes down, the body physically needs more. It needs a constant serum level.” Even the cigarette/caffeine connection is based on physical addiction. Caffeine speeds up the metabolism triggering a depletion of the nicotine level…thus the more coffee a smoker consumes, the more his body craves cigarettes.

At this point, Nabat explains the concept of laser therapy. “It’s simply pressure point therapy,” he says, “like acupuncture.” He considers it a holistic approach to heal the body and mind. A low-level laser light pulse is directed at points on the face, ears and hands. “Picture yourself healed,” he says, as he turns on a video and gently touches laser to earlobe. This is hard for me. I’m not sure I consider myself sick.

Just how does this laser therapy work? Smoking increases the body’s production of endorphins (the body’s natural painkillers), leaving smokers dependent on high levels of nicotine, for fear, at least in my experience, they might “crash and burn” without it. Lasers are used to stimulate the pressure points connected to endorphin release, mimicking the endorphin levels of nicotine, and thus reversing the nicotine, and thus reversing the nicotine-induced chemical changes. So the key to the laser therapy’s success is to alleviate withdrawal symptoms. If your body is feeling the pleasurable effects of nicotine without the nicotine, there is no need to smoke a cigarette. The laser penetrates deeper into tissues, so it’s longer lasting than acupuncture. The should calm you for 72 hours, according to Nabat, the crucial three days of withdrawal. It takes 10 days for total detox.

I feel euphoric. Nabat has finished the laser and is explaining the importance of vitamin supplements, meditative breathing and hydration. He tells me my life will change; I will experience the power of self-mastery. “Today’s a new day,” he says. “Get your car detailed!” I barely listen. I don’t want to think beyond the moment.

I feel like I’m about to lose my best friend, my companion, or worse, my lover.

Jan. 23, 2005

I am amazed that a month has passed and I have no need to smoke. I might desire a cigarette. In fact, I have had moments of cravings, but the need is gone. Need feeds addiction. I consider myself a recovering nicotine addict.

Joel Spritzer, in his book Never Take Another Puff, explains what happens when a smoker begins “smoking more and enjoying it less.” There is a point when the smoker becomes totally dependent on his fix. “He no longer smokes to solve a problem, to celebrate or to feel great. He smokes because he NEEDS a cigarette. Not smoking makes him feel withdrawal.” Smoking makes him feel almost normal. And 20 minutes later the whole process starts up again.

I no longer go into withdrawal 20 times a day. I don’t panic if I wake up in the morning and find I smoked the last cigarette in the pack before I went to bed. I no longer plan my day around smoking breaks.

The American Cancer Society tells me that at this point my energy should have increased, my body temperature has returned to normal, the oxygen level in my blood has increased while the carbon monoxide level has dropped to normal, my chance of a heart attack has decreased and my fine motor coordination should be improved, my nerve endings are regrowing and I can actually savor the taste of favorite foods. Most importantly, my lung capacity has increased and my circulation is improved.

My new vitamin regimen, provided by Freedom Laser Therapy, includes Vitamin B Complex for energy enhancement, antioxidants Grape Seed Extract and Green Tea, Magnesium Oxide, and Super C 500 to boost the immune system. I actually do feel healthier taking these vitamins. And I drink lots more water than ever before.

Jan. 24 2005

There is really no explanation for this. I walk into my neighborhood convenience store and buy a pack of cigarettes. Despite the fact that I haven’t set foot in the store for 31 days, as soon as I walk in, the owner puts my smokes on the counter. It’s business as usual. I light up the moment I hit the sidewalk and smoke half a pack in the next six hours. They taste stale and I feel depressed. I destroy the rest of the cigarettes and debate whether I will admit my failure to anyone.

Jan. 28, 2005

I return to Freedom Laser Therapy for a re-treat, or reactivator, as therapist Angelique Burzynski calls it. I pour my heart out, and am reassured that I can still be successful. In fact, this is a positive step. I have felt no need to smoke in the last four days and I am renewing my commitment with this booster session. Many people return, and nine out of 10 live a nicotine-free life, according to Nabat. I am 99 percent sure that I will continue to be a non-smoker. Nothing is 100 percent.