How Effective is Acupuncture for Insomnia?

Many individuals who have used acupuncture for insomnia have reported improved sleeping patterns and more restful sleep. According to many acupuncturists, one of the primary causes of insomnia is an imbalance in the meridians of the body. Once the problem with the meridians in the body has been addressed, individuals can benefit from improved sleep.

Acupuncture is a technique that has been used for hundreds of years in Eastern medicine. It has been available in the West for some time now as well, but it has become more popular in recent years. It can be used as a treatment for a number of different problems, and using acupuncture for insomnia is one of the most common applications of this technique.

The basic idea behind using acupuncture for insomnia is that the individual who is having trouble sleeping has an imbalance in the body. One of the fundamental concepts of acupuncture is that every individual has meridians that run throughout the body. These meridians allow energy to travel freely within the body from one place to another. If one of these meridians is blocked, the energy cannot travel through it and it starts to throw off other systems.

In order to use acupuncture for insomnia, the acupuncturist has to identify where the block is within the body. This can be done in several ways, including asking the patient questions, checking the individual's pulse, and using heat testing at the ends of the meridians. The acupuncturist will ask the individual about the specifics of the insomnia. For example, the acupuncturist may want to know if the individual cannot fall asleep at all or if he or she wakes up at a certain time and then cannot fall back to sleep.

Each meridian in the body is believed to have a specific time that it is most active. If the individual is having a hard time sleeping at a specific time of night, the acupuncturist may be able to determine which meridian is acting up. The acupuncturist may also use heat testing, which involves holding a heat source close to a point on the fingers and toes to see how long it takes the patient to feel it. With this information, the acupuncturist can more accurately assess the problem.

The acupuncturist can then treat the individual by briefly placing needles in specific points in the body. Many people who have undergone this type of treatment notice results the same day. While this technique may not work for everyone, many individuals have been helped by using acupuncture for insomnia.