Can’t Sleep? Acupuncture can help.
Insomnia describes any situation whereby the natural cycle of deep restful sleep during the night and energised activity during the day has been disrupted or altered. Insomnia often refers to an inability to fall asleep or to stay asleep, but can also describe a lack of quality sleep, which can be recognised by continuous vivid dreaming, teeth grinding, sleep apnoea or daytime exhaustion.
Over time, insomnia leads to an unhealthy pattern of continual sleepiness during the daytime and hyper-alertness in the evening, which can be difficult to break. It does not take long for this cycle to progress, and disturb other parts of one’s mental and physical health, as well as disrupting day-to-day life.
Chinese medicine sees many functions of the body to be cyclical, and one version of this is demonstrated in the image of the clock below. This clock shows what organs are most active at certain times throughout the day and night. Knowing what time your insomnia is at its worse can help to diagnose the core issue, and to work out what sort of patterns have formed.
Acupuncture treatments for insomnia utilise specific points on the body to help restore the body’s function, address imbalances and work with the aim of re-establishing the normal sleep-wake cycle. An acupuncture treatment can be deeply relaxing; in fact, many clients fall asleep on the bed while the needles are in! This is a positive response to the treatment, allowing the body time to work with the acupuncture and rectify the core disharmony.
A recent study showed a promising comparison of the effect of acupuncture for insomnia versus a commonly prescribed sleep medication. The results demonstrated better long-term improvements in sleep quality and sleep time in the acupuncture group than the medication group. It also showed significant improvements in daytime functioning in the acupuncture treatment group.
If you suffer from insomnia or would like more information on how acupuncture can help you, feel free to contact the clinic – 9427 8848,
or email using our Contact Form
Yin, X., Gou, M., Xu, J., Dong, B., Yin, P., Masquelin, F., ... & Xu, S. (2017). Efficacy and safety of acupuncture treatment on primary insomnia: a randomized controlled trial. Sleep medicine, 37, 193-200.
Michaela Rinkel - June 2018