It has been found that acupuncture is effective for treating insomnia based on research conducted by the Hunan University of Traditional Chinese Medicine. The researchers conducted a controlled laboratory investigation, which discovered that acupuncture is effective in the regulation of sleep latency and duration. Moreover, acupuncture seems to trigger various important biological responses. Here’s everything you need to know about acupuncture for insomnia.

What is Acupuncture?

Coming from traditional Chinese medicine, this healing technique uses needles to stimulate anatomic points. These points are also known as acupoints and they help your body heal itself. Moreover, acupuncture helps your body get back on track as it often happens that there is a block of the normal flow of our bodily functions. That’s the time there is some kind of discomfort in the body. In a nutshell, the aim of acupuncture is to enhance the body’s self-healing properties and boost bodily functions.

How Does Acupuncture Work?

Acupuncture is a holistic overview of your health where the person is treated not only the symptoms. This practice works by using sterile needles by inserting them into specific points of the body that are known to stimulate nerves and muscles. This treatment eases pain and stimulates blood flow. Acupuncture treats many ailments, such as fertility, migraines, and allergy. How many sessions a person will have depends on the issue. If there is an acute problem, there might be required about three sessions, while acute issues, such as insomnia, require longer treatment.

Is Acupuncture Effective for Insomnia?

There have been numerous studies which have shown that acupuncture is an effective treatment for insomnia. This healing technique promotes melatonin production, eases anxiety, reduces sleep disruption and arousal, and induces sleep onset. With the help of acupuncture, the patient can sleep better and longer during the night. It has also been shown that this technique also helps in the treatment of sleep apnea. Nevertheless, there is still a need for more research to discover whether acupuncture can improve sleep.

Acupuncture vs. Acupressure

Both of these techniques are based on the same philosophy and both use the same meridians. The only difference is that acupressure uses finger pressure instead of needles to stimulate acupoints and re-balance energy flow. There are numerous techniques you can use at home to alleviate insomnia symptoms with the use of acupressure. For instance, you can massage these spots for 2-3 minutes: the tender spot between your big toe and second toe, the crease of your wrist on the pinky side, with your palm facing up and the fleshy area below your inner ankle bone.