Insomnia and How Acupuncture Can Help
- Posted on: Apr 5 2017
Hours and hours drum by…your twisting. Turning. You’ve just yawned and you say ‘oh please let this be a signal of sweet sleep!!’ But another hour goes by and your eyes remain open. Until you hear a ringing and looking over and its time to awake for work. This little quip is an example of the power of insomnia and how it can distort time and consciousness. Insomnia is one of the top reasons people seek acupuncture. Often, patients come to an acupuncturist reporting insomnia because they are disconnected from other emotional issues they are facing. These repressed emotions can often surface as insomnia, anxiety, or mild depression. As the stresses of modern life take their toll, our minds can no longer relax and our sleep becomes disturbed. When insomnia persists more than one or two nights and becomes chronic insomnia, most people turn to the use of sleep aids such as Ambien. While these pharmaceuticals can be effective for insomnia, they often develop into dependencies and can cause unwanted side effects and in reality are not addressing the root cause of the insomnia. Root causes range from divorce, change in jobs, loss of jobs, and financial concerns to changes in diet and lifestyle. Fortunately, chronic insomnia can be treated effectively with acupuncture. Acupuncture is a side-effect free, non-dependent, natural cure for insomnia.
Acupuncture is especially effective for insomnia, as it has a calming effect on our nervous system. When you receive an acupuncture treatment, your nervous system begins to calm down. The acupuncture needles are doing deep work by unraveling your subconscious stresses, balancing your Qi, and releasing the causes of your insomnia. You may even fall asleep on the treatment table or feel a deep sense of peace. You should sleep the best the first night after an acupuncture treatment; however, several days’ later symptoms of your insomnia may start to return. This is in indication that you should receive your acupuncture treatment for insomnia more frequently. It usually takes several acupuncture treatments per week, for several weeks or months to fully resolve chronic insomnia. The reason being that it is a pattern that must be disrupted and new neurological connections need to be made, which takes time. Here are some helpful tips in aiding in insomnia are:
- Exercise: vigorous exercise is best in the morning, not at night. Stick to relaxing stretches in the evening that unravel your stress avoiding insomnia.
- Work: mental work is best completed during the day. Excessive thinking at night can over-stimulate your mind causing insomnia.
- Warm Food Bath: soaking your feet in warm water at night will assist in bringing your body into a more relaxing state by ‘grounding’ the body and calming frantic energy that prevent sleep.
By: Moises Moris Jr., L. AC.
Bibliography:
Sleepassociation.org.
Posted in: Acupuncture
