For a controlled substance, there are seemingly endless ways to get your nicotine fix. Pharmacy aisles across America are filled with patches, gums, sprays, lozenges, and many more contraptions filled with nicotine. By itself nicotine is not harmful, despite being highly addictive. Dr. Jack Henningfield is one of the country's experts on nicotine. He has researched nicotine's affect on the body and he believes nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) is an important tools for smokers because nicotine, on its own, does not cause cancer and will not prolong nicotine withdrawal symptoms. Although the eventual goal is to break your addiction to nicotine, as well as cigarettes, for some people NRT is necessary to help stop smoking. If you are one of those people, here is a quick review of NRT products.

Everyone is familiar with the nicotine patch. It is easy to use and comes in three doses: 21 mg, 14 mg, and 7 mg. To use apply the patch to a clean dry area on your skin, the nicotine is absorbed slowly through the skin. Use the patch every day for at least 8 weeks after completely stopping smoking. If typically smoke 1 pack a day, use the 21 mg patch and do not try to taper off for at least 2 months. When using the patch some people report rashes, so it is important to take the patch off at night and rotate the area it is put on.

Nicotine gum comes in 2 and 4 mg doses and should NOT be chewed like regular gum. The nicotine is absorbed through the gums in your mouth, so chew briefly then leave it in between your gums and cheek for a while, and repeat. The benefit of chewing nicotine gum is that you keep your mouth busy and help with the nervous fidget smokers report after quitting. Also, you can easily taper yourself off the gum on your, but make sure not to do it too soon!

Nicotine lozenges also come in 2 and 4 mg doses. They are supposed to dissolve slowly in your mouth over 20 to 30 minutes. You should not chew or swallow the lozenges, or drink coffee or soda while sucking on a nicotine lozenge, the acid will make the nicotine less effective. This is another option to help with the oral addiction, but can cause indigestion and soreness in the mouth and throat.

Oral and nasal inhalers both come in multiple dosages, from 1 mg to 4 mg, per puff. The nicotine from inhalation is absorbed into the blood stream much faster than other NRT products. The oral inhaler a similar sensation of getting nicotine orally, like smoking, but are only recommended for people with serious nicotine addictions. Also, if someone already has respiratory problems they should not use the inhalers.

There are other forms of NRT but this covers the major categories, E-Cig will be a topic all on its own. The trick to any NRT is to make sure you are consistent and getting the right dose for you. This means, check the box and make sure you replace 1 mg of nicotine for every cigarettes you normally smoke. Also, don't rush to taper off. It is important to remember that you are still addicted to nicotine and could very easily slip back to smoking, even if you are not smoking anymore. Data shows that smokers fail to quit 5 or more times using NRT, and are sometimes never successful.