Patches

At the Smokers Clinic our clients are always interested on the latest news regarding stop smoking medication and occasionally things pop up in the media that can cause concern. Some readers of this blog may have read the front cover story of the Metro yesterday regarding the use of prescription based painkilling patches in strong heat. There was an additional suggestion that using a nicotine patch in a hot bath or shower could cause an overdose of nicotine leading to unpleasant side effects. So should you be worried?

In short, no. Nicotine patches are completely safe to use in the bath, shower and sunbathing!

In our years of clinical experience we have never come across this to be an issue – in fact many clients report difficulty in getting the patches to stay on in water in the first place!  We can reassure you that it is extremely hard to ‘overdose’ on a nicotine patch even if you wear it in the bath - it’s actually probably best to try and keep it on to keep those cravings at bay! At our annual smoking cessation update last week other clinicians from around the country reported that some of their clients find heating up the patch beforehand improves the functionality of the patch. Recently researchers in Denmark found that by heating a nicotine patch it improved nicotine release and increased nicotine uptake with no reported side effects or discomfort on participants.  If you are ever concerned or have questions about how best to use the nicotine patch then speak with your trained stop smoking advisor, pharmacist or GP who will be able to answer you query.