If you’re having trouble getting a good night sleep, then you know how stressful, frustrating, and exhausting it can be to lie awake in bed as the minutes tick by. Although people don’t always talk about it, insomnia is very common. Studies suggest that roughly a third of adults suffer from it.
Acupuncture is a safe and effective treatment for insomnia. It has been shown to significantly improve sleep, even when sleep troubles are related to another condition. In this post, we’ll talk about the symptoms of insomnia and how acupuncture can help.
What is insomnia?
When diagnosing insomnia, experts use tools like the Athens Insomnia Scale to determine how well you’re sleeping at night and how much it’s affecting you during the day.
Insomnia can include any combination of these factors:
- Difficulty falling asleep
- Trouble staying asleep through the night
- Waking up too early without being able to fall back asleep
- Poor sleep quality
- Negative daytime consequences
Because the symptoms can be so varied, insomnia affects people in many different ways. It’s even possible to have insomnia without knowing it. In a 2016 study, 27% of the patients who had insomnia weren’t aware they had it.
Can acupuncture help you sleep?
Not all insomnia has the same cause. Sometimes it shows up on its own with no clear explanation (primary insomnia). Sometimes it’s related to other health conditions, like chronic pain, emotional suffering, or other health issues (secondary insomnia).
Acupuncture is an effective treatment for both primary and secondary insomnia, resulting in significant improvements in sleep duration for people with a wide variety of health conditions and regardless of age.
In fact, you may even notice improvements in other health conditions that might be contributing to your insomnia. This is because acupuncture also helps reduce inflammation, lessen pain, improve circulation, and encourage your body to release endorphins.
Acupuncture works well in conjunction with other treatments too.
Acupuncture is effective on its own, but it can also be used alongside other common treatments for insomnia. Sleep medicine plus acupuncture has been shown to be more effective than the medicine on its own (this is true for both Western and herbal medicine).
Acupuncture is a great complement to the most common treatments for insomnia, including:
- Cognitive behavioral therapy
- Over-the-counter supplements
- Prescription medication
- Treatments for other issues that prevent you from sleeping (such as chronic pain)
If you’re currently using a treatment that’s helping you sleep, acupuncture doesn’t have to replace it. Adding acupuncture as an additional treatment can help you get even more improvement.
We can help you get your sleep back.
At Pinpoint Acupuncture Clinic, we tailor your treatment plan to your individual needs, concerns, and health history. We might recommend acupuncture and/or other alternative medicine therapies, but either way, we’ll talk through your options and work with you to develop a personalized plan.
If you’ve never tried acupuncture before, you might have questions about how it works or what it’s like. We are more than happy to talk you through the process and answer any questions you have before you decide if acupuncture is right for you.
Contact us today at our Scapoose location to schedule an appointment.