People have tried to quit smoking practically since they started. The nicotine taken into the body from smoking is a stimulant and quite addictive. Other than quitting outright---which many people have tried and failed at---there are a number of therapies available to the smoker. Along with nicotine gum, lozenges and the transdermal nicotine patch, a newer method is to use magnets attached to the ear.
Dopamine
Ear magnets designed to help you stop smoking work, according to the manufacturer, by helping the human brain produce dopamine, a neurotransmitter. Dopamine, according to Philip M. Newton, who teaches at Swansea University Medical School in England, "is a neurotransmitter, one of those chemicals that is responsible for transmitting signals in between the nerve cells (neurons) of the brain. Very few neurons actually make dopamine." Dopamine is responsible for pleasure, calm and satisfaction in the brain. Nicotine causes a release of dopamine when smoking, so the magnets are reported by such manufacturers as Zerosmoke to do the same thing.
Placement
A set of magnets to help you quit smoking attract each other, so they will keep themselves in place on your ear. Place the larger of the two behind the upper part of the ear and the smaller one opposite it on the front of the ear. This combination is designed, according to the manufacturers, to stimulate the creation of dopamine by stimulating ear acupressure.
Results
While there is no hard evidence to prove the ear magnets work to help you quit smoking, the Mayo Clinic does mention that acupressure may help to relieve pain. Since the magnets are supposed to induce the brain to create dopamine, the craving for nicotine may be abated by this replacement. This is the same basic principle as chewing nicotine gum or wearing a transdermal patch in that these are replacements for cigarettes. Ear magnets do not put nicotine in the human body, so if they work, they will not cause nicotine withdrawal when you stop using them.
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