Do you find it hard to get to sleep, wake up throughout the night or wake up too early?  These can be some of the telling signs of insomnia, which affects around 1 in 3 given people, at any time, within Australia.  Often insomnia is a symptom rather than a disease itself and can be brought on by factors such as stress, anxiety, depression, parenthood, pain, or substance abuse.  If ignored, insomnia can lead to serious health and life-threatening consequences such as: 

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• Fatigue

• Depression

• Hypertension

• Moodiness or irritability

• Poor concentration

• Road deaths and;

• Workplace accidents

 

Whilst advice from a health professional is always advised to determine the best treatment plan for you, there are supporting clinical trials that have shown how acupuncture may have a beneficial effect on insomnia, particularly compared with Western medication.  A review, comparing 46 trials, showed a beneficial effect of acupuncture compared with no treatment at all and found that acupuncture was superior to medications in increasing sleep duration by more than 3 hours. Link to study: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19922248

 

Acupuncture treatment may help in a way by regulating yin and yang to reinforce health and eliminate the pathogenic, resulting in improved sleep.  Combined with modern medicine, acupuncture can increase the content of γ-amino butyric acid, whereby enhancing your sleep quality. Additionally, the trial determined that acupuncture plus herbs was significantly better than herbs alone on increasing sleep rates and found that there were no serious side effects related to acupuncture treatment.  Overall, acupuncture appears to be effective in the treatment of insomnia. 

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If you are experiencing sleep or insomnia difficulties and believe that acupuncture may be a helpful option for you, click ‘contacts us’ now to talk to our friendly receptionist or acupuncturist today.

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