Insomnia and Acupuncture

Insomnia is an inability to get adequate sleep when the opportunity to do so presents itself.  There are so many factors that can cause insomnia and some say more than a hundred factors can lead to it.  When someone is unable to get restorative or sustaining sleep for at least a month, then that person is diagnosed with insomnia.  The usual approach to treating insomnia is to identify the origin of the cause in order to apply the appropriate remedy.  The underlying behavioral, psychiatric or medical reasons of inadequate sleep should be addressed first although there are times when the root cause of the problem may be difficult to address.

When this type of situation is encountered, the recourse then is to implement ways that can easily promote sleeping.  Counseling is a major tool of physicians in helping sleep deprived patients no matter what type of insomnia the latter have. Some important recommendations physicians give include giving the bedroom a comfortable temperature, good ventilation, dim lighting during sleeping time at night and avoiding naps in the morning. They also advise the patient to avoid drinking beverages with caffeine or limiting them to 3 cups only in the morning, avoiding nicotine or alcohol intake 6 hours before sleeping time and doing exercises everyday.

Acupuncture is a modality that uses filiform needles inserted at meridian points in the body to stimulate a therapeutic process.  It is an integral part of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). Acupuncture is based on the principles yin and yang and chi balance and harmony in the body.  TCM practitioners believe that illnesses and pain are due to the imbalance of Yin and Yang in the body, or a lack or surplus of chi, blood or body fluids.  Acupuncture is then used to treat pain and illnesses by restoring harmony and balance to Yin and Yang forces and restoring normal chi, blood and body fluid flow by the stimulation of vital meridian points that associate to different areas of the body.

Modern technology has spawned other modern forms of acupuncture.  Some of these forms are transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation or TEAS, laser acupuncture and electroacupuncture among others.  Electroacupuncture is a type of acupuncture where the needles are connected to a electric generating gadget that sends out mild electric pulses, that flows between two adjacent needles. Laser acupuncture uses a laser beam in order to optimally stimulate the meridians with energy.  TEAS is transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation and acupuncture combined to achieve beneficial stimulation of the meridians.

Acupuncture is widely known and accepted all over the world as a treatment many types of disorders including psychiatric disorders, alcohol and substance addiction, digestive disorders, asthma headaches arthritis and back pain among many more others.  It is the most popular form of alternative medicine in the world.

Enliven Health and Wellness
4207 Gardendale Suite B103
San Antonio, TX 78229
Phone: (210) 999-5579

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