It’s 3:00AM and you’re awake. Everything is quiet and it feels like the entire world is asleep except for you. You’ve tried closing your eyes, reading a book, meditating, and nothing seems to help. Insomnia is the worst.
This is because sleep is the foundation of health. When we don’t feel rested, everything feels more difficult. Not getting enough sleep can have many downstream effects on health including poor digestion, difficulty concentrating, higher blood sugar, fatigue, anxiety, and depression.
Everything feels better when we get enough rest. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) offers support for both mental health and sleep quality through acupuncture and herbal medicine.
Table of contents
- Types of Insomnia
- Acupuncture for Insomnia
- Acupuncture Helps Restore the Body’s Natural Balance to Promote Better Sleep
- AcuNap — Falling into a Brief, Deep Sleep
- Best Herbal Medication for Insomnia
- Targeting Stress Insomnia to Promote Better Sleep
- Treating Insomnia by Treating Your Unique Pattern
- A Gentle Intervention to Improve Sleep Quality and Duration
- Ready to Sleep Better and Wake Feeling Refreshed?
Types of Insomnia
The two types of insomnia most commonly treated with TCM are onset insomnia (difficulty falling asleep), and maintenance insomnia (difficulty staying asleep or waking too early in the morning). These types of insomnia both respond well to treatment including acupuncture, customized herbal medicine for insomnia, supplements, dietary changes, and lifestyle guidance including sleep hygiene and avoidance of screens before bed.
Acupuncture for Insomnia
Many health insurance plans now recognize the therapeutic benefits of acupuncture and offer coverage for it as an adjunct therapy. This includes treatment for various mental health conditions, such as insomnia, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and anxiety disorders. This growing acceptance reflects the increasing body of evidence supporting acupuncture’s efficacy in addressing these challenges. Many patients report that their sleep improves during acupuncture treatment, even if they are coming in for pain management. This is a wonderful benefit of regular acupuncture treatment for insomnia or other health concerns.
Acupuncture Helps Restore the Body’s Natural Balance to Promote Better Sleep
For individuals struggling with sleep disturbances, acupuncture can be a particularly valuable tool. It works to improve sleep quality through several interconnected mechanisms. By stimulating specific acupuncture points, acupuncturists can help alleviate both physical tension and emotional stress, two significant factors that often interfere with restful, quality sleep.
Furthermore, acupuncture has been shown to effectively lower levels of cortisol, the body’s primary stress hormone, which can disrupt sleep cycles when elevated. It also plays a crucial role in regulating various neurotransmitters within the brain, including those that are directly involved in promoting healthy and balanced sleep patterns.
Through this multipronged approach, acupuncture assists in restoring the body’s natural equilibrium, creating an internal environment conducive to achieving deeper and more restorative sleep. Because of this, individuals often wake feeling significantly more rested, refreshed, and better equipped to manage their daily activities.
AcuNap — Falling into a Brief, Deep Sleep
Interestingly, a common experience reported by our patients undergoing acupuncture treatment is falling asleep during the acupuncture treatment itself. This phenomenon, affectionately dubbed the “acunap” by some patients, speaks to the deeply relaxing effects of the therapy.
Many individuals express that they eagerly anticipate their weekly acupuncture sessions, viewing them as an opportunity to experience this unique state of tranquil rest. Patients frequently share that the sense of rejuvenation they experience after an “acunap” is often more profound and revitalizing compared to naps taken at home, suggesting that the therapeutic context of the acupuncture treatment enhances the restorative power of this brief period of sleep.
This highlights not only the immediate relaxation induced by acupuncture but also its potential to improve overall sleep regulation and well-being.
Best Herbal Medication for Insomnia
Herbal medicine is a valuable therapy for insomnia as it can address the root causes of sleep disturbances. Herbal formulas are customized based on the individual patient’s specific imbalances and patterns of disharmony. These formulas can help you fall asleep and stay asleep.
We often focus on calming the mind, nourishing any deficiencies that might be disrupting sleep, or clearing any excesses that might be disrupting sleep. Herbal medicine offers a comprehensive approach to treating insomnia by targeting the underlying physiological and energetic imbalances contributing to sleep difficulties.
Unlike conventional sleep aids that often provide symptomatic, short-lived relief, customized herbal formulas work to restore the body’s natural sleep even after taking the herbs.
A thorough assessment of the individual’s constitution, lifestyle, and specific sleep patterns is essential for creating an effective herbal prescription. Acupuncturists consider factors such as the time it takes to fall asleep, the frequency of nighttime awakenings, the ability to return to sleep, and the presence of any accompanying symptoms like anxiety, digestive issues, women’s health issues, or pain.
Targeting Stress Insomnia to Promote Better Sleep
Herbal formulations for insomnia often include adaptogenic herbs like ginseng and schisandra. These formulas can help the body cope with stress, a common trigger for insomnia, by modulating the stress response. These customized herbal remedies help the body handle stress on a cellular level. These herbal remedies help decrease stress while awake and while sleeping.
Treating Insomnia by Treating Your Unique Pattern
In cases where deficiencies are suspected to be impacting sleep, certain herbs may be incorporated to nourish and replenish vital substances like Blood and Qi. For example, herbs rich in magnesium or other calming minerals can support muscle relaxation and nervous system function.
TCM principles are often applied in herbal treatments for insomnia, where patterns of disharmony such as Liver Qi stagnation, Heart Blood Deficiency, or Spleen Qi Deficiency are identified and addressed with specific herbal strategies. These formulas may aim to calm the spirit, nourish the blood, clear heat, or resolve stagnation, depending on the patient’s individual presentation and unique pattern.
A Gentle Intervention to Improve Sleep Quality and Duration
One key advantage of both acupuncture and herbal medicine lies in the potential for long-term benefits without the side effects often associated with pharmaceuticals. Another is how customized acupuncture and herbal treatments are. Our acupuncturists are able to craft a customized treatment plan that addresses your body’s unique needs.
Acupuncture and customized herbal medicine are both wonderful ways to treat insomnia and improve overall health, including mental health. Acupuncture can help balance the body’s functions and rhythms to treat and prevent insomnia. Herbal medicine can help you fall asleep and stay asleep so you aren’t wide awake at 3:00AM.
Ready to Sleep Better and Wake Feeling Refreshed?
If you could use some support for your mental health or better quality sleep, then give acupuncture and herbal medicine a try. Your acupuncturist will use your tongue, pulse, medical history, and current symptoms to create a completely customized treatment plan that is just for you — because you deserve to feel and sleep better. To get started, head to our booking page and schedule your first appointment. If you’d like us to check your insurance benefits, we’d be happy to take care of that for you. Many insurance plans cover acupuncture as an adjunct therapy for mental health. Our acupuncture clinic in Washington, DC is in-network with CareFirst/BlueCross and Aetna.
About the Author
Hi! I’m Elyse, the go-getter who founded Cherry Blossom Healing Arts. I’m 100% a healer who loves to help people feel better! I absolutely love practicing acupuncture in Washington, DC.
