How Acupuncture Can Help Treat Insomnia

Insomnia is a difficult condition to suffer from. It can also be difficult finding a treatment that works for you. If you’ve tried all the at home treatments, and still having no luck, acupuncture can be the natural and holistic treatment for you. Here’s how it works:

First, a practitioner will determine what kind of insomnia a patient suffers from. Insomnia can range from difficulty falling asleep, waking up in the middle of the night and being unable to fall back asleep, waking up early and unable to fall asleep, vivid and/or disruptive dreaming, or the total inability to sleep. Regardless of the reason for the patient’s suffering, each type of insomnia is caused by a different type of energy imbalance, which is important for the practitioner to be aware of in order to administer the most accurate treatment.

When the acupuncture treatment begins, your practitioner will activate your parasympathetic system, which is the part of your nervous system that is in charge of rest and recovery/digesting. The more relaxed your body feels, the easier it will be to fall asleep. To do this, your practitioner will place needles in 12 different places on the body (meridians) that will target your specific type of insomnia/energy imbalance. The meridians that best help insomnia include:

• Heart meridian: for anxiety– helps if you have difficulty falling asleep or if you wake too early
• Lung meridian: for grief– this helps if you tend to wake up between 3AM – 5AM for no discernible reason
• Spleen meridian: for worry– this helps if you wake up at the same time every night
• Liver meridian: for anger and stress– if you tend to wake up between 1am and 3am for no discernible reason

Insomnia is hard, but with a professional naturopath on your side, you can be well on your way towards a full night’s rest. Call Dr. Cecilia Ho today, naturopath in Pickering, to start your treatment: 905-492-8688.