Does acupuncture really help with insomnia?

It is estimated that about 40% of adults have experienced insomnia at some point or another. Insomnia is a sleep disorder that have symptoms of either not being able to fall asleep, waking frequently, and not rested upon waking. There are many treatment options for insomnia from medications to psychological therapy. What about acupuncture and sleep? Acupuncture has been proven to have a positive effect on those suffering with sleep disorders. This has been discussed in previous blogs as well because why? Acupuncture works.

What does the research say?

There are so many new and exciting studies coming out that show not only that acupuncture works but how. Some of the newer studies use MRI-based studies to see how certain acupuncture points affect regions in the brain. In a recent study, they found that for insomnia it might be a combination of specific acupuncture points rather than a single point that helps to improve sleep and curb insomnia.

In another study by the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine looked at 46 randomized trials involving 3811 patients that showed acupuncture was overall beneficial in treating insomnia compared to no treatment at all. The studies also showed that acupuncture was more efficient in the number of patients with a total sleep duration increase than medication. Acupuncture plus medication showed an increased sleep duration compared to medication alone.

Take-away: Acupuncture is a safe, non-invasive treatment with no serious side effects.

If you suffer from insomnia or any type of sleep disturbance and are tired (no pun intended) of not getting enough sleep and have not tried acupuncture. What are you waiting for? Get to feeling great now.