Are you struggling to find a cure for your sleepless nights? You are not alone. Thousands of Americans are struggling to fall asleep … or stay asleep. But take heart, it is still possible to get your much needed sleep without taking pills. In this article, we will discuss the benefits of acupuncture for insomnia.
Some may think that insomnia is nothing to worry about. But if you are the one struggling to find some sleep, then you very well know that it’s a major cause of concern.
Insomnia has adverse effects not only on your health but on work, finance, and general safety.
In fact, a poll conducted by the National Sleep Foundation shows that 60% of the people they have surveyed have driven while feeling sleepy.
Scary.
But here’s an even scarier fact: A good 37% of those people admitted to having fallen asleep at the wheel.
So you see? People’s lives are in danger because of insomnia.
Now, let’s forget the scary parts for a minute … because the good news is there is a very good solution for insomnia. And that might not be news to you. Because for decades now, people have been taking sleeping pills.
But that’s not what we’re talking about here. The solution we’re referring to is acupuncture.
The benefits of acupuncture for insomnia has been proven by the Zheijian Chinese Medical University. They conducted a study recently, and it says that acupuncture is a better sleep treatment compared to Zopiclone.
Zopiclone is a powerful sleeping pill which can be taken to treat insomnia.
The results of the study say that acupuncture achieved a 92.9% total effective rate. This obviously outperformed Zopiclone which achieved a 67.9% total effective rate.
It was also mentioned in the study that acupuncture improved sleep latency and sleep efficiency for the patients in the study.
Why Acupuncture Works for Insomnia
Now that we all know the benefits of acupuncture for insomnia, the next question is: why does acupuncture work for insomnia?
According to an article in Sleep Junkies, acupuncture increases the body’s natural production of a substance called melatonin. This substance is responsible for allowing you to feel drowsy and lulls you to sleep.
A group of scientists did a study on acupuncture’s effect on insomnia by subjecting 18 anxious adults to acupuncture for five weeks.
The results say that there is a significant increase in endogenous melatonin secretion during night time. There are also significant improvements in “polysomnographic measures of sleep onset latency, arousal index, total sleep time, and sleep efficiency.”
What Are the Types of Insomnia That Acupuncture Can Treat?
In traditional Chinese medicine, there are different classifications of insomnia. It has also been proven that acupuncture can treat all of them. Insomnia.net classifies them as follows:
- Sleep onset or difficulty going to sleep
- Middle of the night, or waking and unable to go back to sleep right away
- Terminal or late insomnia, or waking in the very early morning and cannot return to sleep again
- Sleep with vivid and disruptive dreaming
- Inability to sleep, in general
Now, remember that while acupuncture can treat insomnia, it doesn’t mean that one session can erase all your sleep problems. It actually requires a number of sessions before your insomnia symptoms go away. What’s more, each type of insomnia has a different acupuncture treatment. So be as detailed as possible with your acupuncturist.
If you are interested in learning more about the benefits of acupuncture for insomnia, watch the video below. In this video, globally-trained acupuncturist, Adrian Taricani, excellently explains how to use acupressure points to help you sleep better.
There are several ways to treat insomnia and acupuncture may be one of the easiest and most effective treatments there is. It’s definitely worth a try.
If you live near Hilton Head and would like to experience the benefits of acupuncture for insomnia, you can visit Delta Discovery Center. We have a licensed acupuncturist, Debbie, who happens to be one of the best and most experienced acupuncturists in the area. Peruse our website for more information about our acupuncture services. If you want to book an appointment right away, click here.
