And feel better
Smoking is bad for your health. There’s no denying it. But did you know it can also make it more difficult to manage your pain and can also cause pain?
As well as the obvious links to cancer and lung disease, smoking has also been linked to back pain, neck pain and rheumatoid arthritis. Smoking also causes fatigue and slower healing, which can make your pain worse. And it can make some of your medications less effective.
So quitting smoking has many health benefits. Within weeks of quitting you’ll breathe easier and have more energy, making it easier to exercise and do day-to-day activities.
Quitting can be difficult, but there’s a lot of help available to support you.
Tips for quitting
- Get help. Talk to your doctor and the Quitline (137 848).
- Decide on a strategy. Are you going to use medication, nicotine replacement, coaching or a combination of strategies? Or are you going to just go it alone?
- Talk to your family and friends. Let them know what you’re doing and ask for their support.
- Write down the reasons you want to quit and put this list in prominent places to encourage and motivate you.
- Have some strategies in place for when you want to smoke, e.g. what will you do if you’re around other smokers?
- Be kind to yourself. Quitting can be difficult and you may have a slip-up to two. It’s not the end of the world, or the end of quitting. Get back on track.
- Use some of the money you save and treat yourself to something special, such as a massage or gold class movie tickets.
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