Nicotine Pouches vs Nicotine Replacement Therapy Options

Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) options have been prescribed by healthcare professionals for many years now to people who are seeking to quit smoking. NRT is vital in this journey as it prevents nicotine withdrawal from setting in and makes the whole process easier. 

Learn more about these, as well as two other forms of nicotine replacement, which, whilst not prescribed by GPs, are proving to be a successful thing for people to use to ensure they quit smoking for good!

Nicotine Replacement Therapy is the name given to medically approved products which can be prescribed by healthcare professionals to people who are seeking to quit smoking, but still provide nicotine in alternative forms. 

It's always recommended that a person use some form of NRT when quitting smoking, as this will prevent nicotine withdrawal from occurring. The body will still be supplemented with nicotine, just in much smaller and concentrated doses, without the thousands of harmful chemicals that are found in combustible tobacco products.

There are many different forms of NRT available, which GPs and Stop Smoking services can prescribe to patients seeking to quit smoking. We list these below, as well as other options which are not available on prescription, but are proving to be successful with people looking to quit smoking. 

We've used the "Stop Smoking Aids" page from the NHS website which lists the following NRT products as options which are available on prescription;

E-Cigarettes are not available on prescription from the NHS, but this doesn't mean that they're not being recommended by GPs and Stop Smoking services to people seeking to quit smoking. They're even mentioned on the NHS Stop Smoking website as an option for people to consider using.

Studies have been conducted which looked at how successful people were in quitting smoking by using various forms of NRT, as well as E-Cigarettes, both with nicotine vape juice and nicotine-free vape juice. And unsurprisingly, the people who were using an e-cigarette with nicotine were the most successful in quitting and abstained from smoking for a longer period of time. 

Using a vape kit like a pen vape kit mimics the effects of smoking as closely as anything else available. The hand-to-mouth action, the inhaling and exhaling, as well as the nicotine absorption. Vaping also doesn't bring the thousands upon thousands of chemicals that are commonly associated with smoking tobacco products.

You can learn more about how nic pouches compare to smoking and vaping in our blog, which looks at this topic.

Ultimately there is no fixed answer to the question of which alternative nicotine product is better or worse as the decision is guided by personal preference and lifestyle. Nic Pouches work in a very similar way to gum and lozenges but are less invasive as no sucking or chewing is required, they do not however replicate the hand to mouth action some ex-smokers crave so it ay be that a combination of vaping and nic pouches is the best fit for your journey.

Whichever option you decide you want to try, it is always best to pair the products with behavioural therapy too from a Stop Smoking Service as this has been proven to yield the highest percentage of successful quit attempts.