Insomnia doesn’t only apply to people who find it hard to get to sleep. You can go to sleep at a reasonable hour and wake up soon after and be unable to get back to sleep. Without a full cycle of sleep, you could feel tired throughout the day and have little energy.
Virtually everyone experiences insomnia from time to time. For most men and women, it’s a short-term issue. After a day or two, sleep returns to normal, or they sleep in on the weekend and their sleep pattern resets itself. Chronic insomnia may be diagnosed after a month or more of frequent symptoms. While medications may help you sleep, they can have side effects that are as troubling as insomnia itself.
Acupuncture is a simple, safe, and drug-free way to treat insomnia, and it has helped many people. If you have trouble sleeping, treatment at Family Wellness Acupuncture Inc. may be able to help restore your sleep.
While over-the-counter drugs or prescription medications may help with occasional bouts of insomnia, most insomnia medications aren’t meant for long-term use. Sleep medications can make you drowsy during the day, which may also interfere with your reaction times and cognitive abilities, or even increase your need for other medications. Depending on your regular activities, this could make driving or operating other equipment dangerous.
You could also become dependent on sleep medications and suffer even stronger insomnia when you attempt to go drug-free. Furthermore, insomnia drugs may not have the same effect over time, because your body may build resistance to them.
Chinese medicine views a healthy body as one that has a free flow of energy. Problems — such as insomnia — can occur when there is a blockage at one or more energy points. Each energy point is called a meridian. If a meridian is blocked, stimulation with an acupuncture needle can release that energy.
By helping unlock meridians, this can stimulate blood flow. Since the materials for natural healing flow through your body by way of your blood, an increase in flow can mean an increase in raw materials for repair. So while acupuncture isn’t a direct cure for insomnia, it can provide the stimulus for natural healing.
Acupuncture is performed by inserting thin, flexible needles into specific areas of your skin. It doesn’t normally cause pain, but you may feel a mild ache or a slight tingling sensation.
Appointments usually take about an hour. And while you may sleep better after a single acupuncture treatment, you may need a series of sessions depending on the nature and severity of your condition.
If you’d like to learn more about acupuncture and how it may be able to help relieve your insomnia, book an appointment online or over the phone with Family Wellness Acupuncture Inc. today.
