Today’s blog post discusses overcoming insomnia with acupuncture. Patients come to us struggling with poor sleep, either difficulty falling asleep or waking during the night unable to get back to sleep. Acupuncture helps improve both of these problems safely, naturally and with long term relief.
The Problem of Insomnia
The National Institutes of Health states that approximately 30 percent of Americans complain of sleep problems, and 10 percent have fatigue during the day (daytime functional impairment) due to insomnia. At least 30 percent of our patients list sleep as one of their health concerns. It is commonly seen with depression, anxiety, high stress, menopause, and chronic pain.
Different Kinds of Sleep Problems
There are two primary sleep issues. The first is difficulty falling asleep, often accompanied with anxiety and inability to quiet the mind. People can toss and turn for hours in this state. The longer it persists, the worse the condition gets, as it generates its own anxiety. You start worrying about not being able to sleep, which makes things even worse.
The second common sleep issue is waking up during the night with difficulty falling back to sleep. Typically someone wakes between 1am and 3am, goes to the bathroom, and is then unable to fall back asleep. They could be up for 30 minutes, an hour, or even two to three hours. This condition is also extremely frustrating.
Faced with insomnia, many people turn to sleep medications like Ambien and Lunesta. This is a good choice if the medications enable you to sleep without side effects. But for some, they don’t work. Or they work at the beginning, but over time, they stop working, or they cause negative side effects. For these patients, it is probably best to restore sleep through a natural method like acupuncture. In fact, overcoming insomnia with acupuncture is easier than you may think.
Acupuncture Improves Sleep
When you first arrive at Raleigh Acupuncture, your practitioner will conduct an intake. They will ask questions about your sleep issues, as well as your overall health. In addition, they will conduct a tongue and pulse diagnosis, which reveals important information about your body’s organ function. This information is used to identify the unique pattern diagnosis responsible for your sleep issues.
Overcoming insomnia with acupuncture is effective because it addresses the underlying root cause. For example, difficulty falling asleep is often due to Heart and Liver Blood deficiency, while waking during the night can be caused by Liver Qi stagnation or Kidney Yin deficiency. Each person’s unique presentation shines a light on their particular imbalance, allowing us to customize an acupuncture treatment most useful to them.
Most of our patients start seeing improvements in their sleep within the first four treatments. Many notice an improvement after just one or two treatments. As acupuncture restores balance to the body, sleep naturally improves. And since we are making the body more healthy, these results are long lasting. A pill works for one night, but acupuncture heals the body and allows it to retain the healing benefits.
Insomnia Case 1: Three Hours to Fall Asleep
A 23 year old came to our clinic having difficult falling asleep. Melatonin did not work for her, and she was not interested in stronger prescription medications. In addition to her sleep troubles, she also had anxiety before bed and frequent bouts of dizziness. Her symptoms, tongue and pulse all pointed to a pattern diagnosis of Heart blood deficiency. Her acupuncture treatment addressed this imbalance and she was sleeping better after just three treatments. After seven treatments her insomnia was resolved.
Insomnia Case 2: Wakes 2am Every Night
This 42 year old man fell asleep fine, but always woke at 2:00am, unable to fall back asleep for hours. His job was stressful, and he was dealing with a particularly difficult work problem. His sleep had been fine before this problem arose at work, but for the past three months it had suffered greatly. He was tired during the day and feeling worn out. His pattern imbalance was Liver Qi stagnation, triggered by intense stress. His acupuncture addressed this imbalance, which resulted in lowering his stress levels and allowed him to start sleeping through the night again. This was accomplished in just three treatments.
Insomnia Case 3: Ambien for 20 years
An 80 year old grandmother came to our clinic wanting to get off Ambien, which she had been taking for 20 years. In the past 6 months it had stopped working well, and she was having more and more difficulty falling asleep. Her pattern diagnosis was Kidney Yin deficiency and Liver Qi stagnation. Her acupuncture treatment addressed these two imbalances. After just three treatments she started feeling the difference. With each treatment it was easier for her to fall asleep. After ten treatments she was sleeping like a baby, without any medications. Her insomnia was cured.
Overcoming Insomnia With Acupuncture
Come in for acupuncture to resolve your sleep troubles. You will receive the highest quality care. Your treatment will be custom designed to meet your specific needs. No two people present the same way. We all have unique pattern imbalances. Acupuncture is designed to address these imbalances and correct them. Overcoming insomnia with acupuncture is the best way to improve your sleep.
Next Steps
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What our Clients are Saying
Turning to acupuncture was my last resort to battling insomnia. I had been prescribed two heavy sleep aids with no success. After the third appointment, I went from averaging less than 2.5 hours of sleep to over seven, without any sleep aids. I still go and pretty sure I wouldn’t be here today without success from Raleigh Acupuncture.
Raleigh Acupuncture was recommended by a friend after I mentioned my insomnia and dependency on a sleeping pill. My apprehension was short lived because of the results of my visits to Dr. Mark. With acupuncture treatments and Chinese herbs I was able to begin sleeping well and continue to do so. Dr. Mark is a good listener and encourages his patients in all health issues as well as the original purpose for treatment. Consequently, my knees are stronger and I’m walking better and with more confidence. I haven’t had the need for a cortisone shot in a year and a half. Occasionally, I would use a cane and it’s now somewhere gathering dust. Also, I had a persistent headache that my primary physician had no solution for, and after two acupuncture treatments it’s a thing of the past. Hot flashes were another issue that was treated successfully. I am so grateful to have found a knowledgeable and caring person to treat my ailments, many of which I thought would only grow worse as I aged. Generally, I feel healthier.
I would like to thank Raleigh Acupuncture for the wonderful and very helpful treatments. I had been seeing them for my insomnia, which was making excellent progress at the time and has since been cured. On a previous Monday I was involved in a minor traffic accident. Due to the stress of the accident on Tuesday I awoke in a severe flare-up of my fibromyalgia. The pain was so bad I took pain killers and stayed in bed for the day. The following day I had an appointment with Dr. Mark which I wanted to cancel. My husband suggested I keep the appointment and tell Dr. Mark about the pain. After our discussion, he modified the treatment he had planned for me and treated the pain. I came home, took another pain pill and went back to bed. The following morning I woke pain free and have been since, which is about 2 to 3 months. Thanks again Raleigh Acupuncture!
I became a patient of Raleigh Acupuncture in 2007. I did a lot of research prior to selecting them and I never regretted it. Over the years, I have been treated for various conditions – insomnia, an auto-immune disease, a herniated disk, etc. I have recommended Raleigh Acupuncture to various friends and family members.
I highly recommend the practitioners of Raleigh Acupuncture. I’ve seen them for several years and have always recommended them highly and without hesitation to many of my friends, all of whom have been equally thrilled with the care provided. They are genuinely interested in your health and general well-being, with a focus on getting you healed quickly and gently. My hot flashes are GONE! and the Chinese herbs for sleeplessness are awesome too!
I haven’t slept well for 20 years. That all changed when I was treated at Raleigh Acupuncture for my insomnia. They said it would take 12 treatments, so I took a leap of faith and tried it. I saw changes start to happen after just a few treatments. Over the course of three months I was able to sleep better and better. I weaned myself off of Ambien, and am now sleeping like a baby again. I never thought I’d see the day! It really worked. And guess what? I’ve got more energy now. Imagine that – a good night sleep gives you more energy! Rocket science! Thanks guys!
