Got Insomnia? Acupuncture can help!
Got Insomnia? Acupuncture can help! Got Insomnia? Acupuncture can help! There is nothing worse than not being able to sleep at night. Tossing and turning, watching the clock tick closer and closer to when you need to get up and start your day….its a dreadful feeling. There are a lot of commercial remedies out there, but who wants to become dependent on a nightly sleeping pill? Why not try Acupuncture instead?! There are several ways in which Acupuncture can help. Acupuncture can help your body produce more melatonin: In an article published in the Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience, Spence et al. explored the relationship between melatonin and acupuncture treatments. They observed a significant increase in endogenous melatonin secretion in all of the 18 patients suffering from severe insomnia who were given acupuncture treatments twice a week for 5 weeks. Records of electrical and muscular states during the entire sleeping time indicated that, after acupuncture treatments, the patients took less time to fall asleep, had fewer occasions of waking up during sleep, and experienced increased total sleep time and deep sleep time. Anxiety, depression and fatigue were also decreased. Interestingly, alertness in the morning was reduced as well. Acupuncture can improve blood flow to improve sleep quality: Hecht and his colleagues studied the relationship between the blood flow to the brain and insomnia. They noted that an insufficient blood flow to the brain could lead to low sugar levels and spontaneous waking from sleep. Acupuncture can decrease effects of aging: The weakening of parasympathetic function results in the familiar signs of aging, including increased and irregular heartbeats, constipation, insomnia, erectile dysfunction, fluid retention, and systemic inflammation. These consequences may in turn contribute to many of the common diseases associated with aging, including Type-II diabetes, Alzheimer’s, arteriosclerosis, and cancer. The maintenance and restoration of parasympathetic function may boost the functions of the internal organs and slow the aging process. Acupuncture generally enhances the parasympathetic nervous system. Acupuncture can reduce pain: Acupuncture has a very good analgesic effect and can thereby help people with pain improve their sleep quality. Acupuncture can reduce stress hormones to treat insomnia: When we are under chronic stress, such as over-thinking and overworking, our body produces more cortisol to keep us alert during the daytime. When we are under acute stress, such as a fight-or-flight condition, our body produces more epinephrine (adrenaline) and norepinephrine. These two stress hormones deeply affect our sleep quality. Much love, Amanda Self Amanda Self wears a variety of hats at Tao To Wellness. From Social Media to Medical Billing, she brings healing energy to all that she touches. Amanda is a Reiki Master, a jeweler and is currently studying Herbalism, both in the classroom and out in the fields.
Insomnia and Acupuncture (Berkeley Acupuncture)
Insomnia and Acupuncture (Berkeley Acupuncture) At Tao to Wellness we certainly see a lot of patients with trouble sleeping. In Chinese medicine, sleep is one of those magical times that you put ‘deposits into your bank account’ or as they say in ancient times, it’s when you replenish your righteous Qi (energy). Without quality sleep, a patient’s vitality, reserves, immunity and ability to handle stress gets disrupted. We see people who have trouble falling asleep initially, people who wake up multiple times in the night and people who wake up too early and can’t fall back asleep. We see them all. What do we do? A few things…the biggie is acupuncture. Even when a patient is coming for something completely different, let’s say fertility or low back pain, they ALMOST ALWAYS say that the night of the acupuncture session they sleep deeper and wake up feeling fantastic. A lot of times that trend continues for up to a week (remember acupuncture is a cumulative therapy, it takes time at first). So, this we know, the balancing that is done with acupuncture helps a person sleep. Herbs are the second thing we LOVE to prescribe for acupuncture, which herbs you ask? Hard to say, it’s all based on a person’s constitution and their exact issue in the slumber department. Either way, we find the right herbal formula for the patient and start working with the other side of coin (Acupuncture being the first side) Lastly, we look at their cortisol levels, because when cortisol (the stress hormone) is high at night, there can be many sleepless nights. This is a very Western take on things, but we work with the whole body at Tao to Wellness and we don’t want to leave any stone unturned. So, with a saliva test we can see what your cortisol trend is and if the rhythm is off go from there with supplements. These are the three things we do when it comes insomnia and it works! We’ve had endless satisfaction in this area, so if you or someone you know is struggling with their sleep send them in! Much love, Christina “Mei Wen” Martin, L.Ac., Dipl.AC, MTOM, FABORM. christina@berkeley-acupuncture.com Christina Martin is the founder of Tao to Wellness. She is an Acupuncturist, Chinese Herbalist and Teacher and has been in practice for fifteen years. She holds a Master’s Degree in Traditional Chinese Medicine and is a fellow of the American Board of Oriental Reproductive Medicine. Christina entered Acupuncture school without ever having an Acupuncture treatment. She simply felt it was her calling.