Something that really helped me when quitting smoking was to begin the repairing process to my lungs early on
. Just knowing that I was doing something positive to my body was a great source of comfort and focus and I believe was a major factor in me stopping smoking for good!
The method I decided to try was a simple, home lung detox which cost me around $30. The idea behind it is that it fast tracks the removal of chemicals, tar and toxins that have collected through your smoking habit. This in turn speeds up the the bodies natural repair of the lungs.
It's quite simple to do but is an intense course and works very quickly so if you decide that it's something that you want to try then be prepared. You do feel a little sick at times and without being too explicit, you do start to remove the contents of your lungs quite quickly. But what a relief it is to know that you are actually ridding your body of these harmful toxins once and for all in a matter of weeks. Apparently to allow the body alone to fully expel these chemicals and tar from the lungs can take between 10 to 15 years so it's much better in my mind to get this done as soon as possible.
What it told me was that I was never going back to smoking again. There's no point going through a lung detox only to start smoking again. In fact though, the strange thing is the thought of smoking actually made me feel ill. If I even smelled another smokers smoke this also made my stomach turn a little. Don't get me wrong, I'm not one of these ex smokers who preaches to smokers to stop. I fully understand the powerful addiction and enjoyment involved with smoking, but I would personally never go back now that my lungs are repaired and healthy.
So what happens when the lungs are repairing? The main damage from smoking is done to the alveoli and the cilia. The alveoli are tiny sacks which transfer oxygen into the bloodstream. The alveoli damage caused by smoking is quite severe and some believe that it is never fully repaired even after many years, but don't allow this to put you off quitting. On the other hand there is much better news about cilia. These are microscopic hairlike structures which actually sweep out particles and toxins from the lungs. Smoking paralyzes the cilia and so allows particles to build up. Once you have stopped smoking and the repairing of the lungs begins to happen the cilia start to function again and so strangely enough you may develop a cough. This is a good sign. The lung detox actually brought this stage on very quickly, two or three days to be exact and then fast tracked the cleaning of the lungs to speed up the repairing process. Within 3 or 4 weeks you start to feel a whole lot better.