At Home Acupressure for Sleep

In these unprecedented times, it’s no surprise that many of us may be having trouble settling our minds before we head off to sleep.

While you may have tried all the “rules” (no screens before bed, a dark quiet room, eye mask, ideal temperature of 68 degrees, etc.) there may be one thing you haven’t tried — at home acupressure!

Acupressure points can absolutely help you to relax and get a better night's sleep. With similar functionality to acupuncture, the acupressure points are aligned within meridians and when acupressure is properly applied, 

The best points associated with sleep improvement and relaxation are: 

Kidney 3 - this point is located at the back of the ankle, by the malleolus. It is best known for the treatment of anxiety, night sweats, fear, and menopause symptoms. It also helps to tone the kidneys. 

Yintang - this is point is right in between your eyebrows, also known as the third eye. Proper manipulation of this point will lead to help with insomnia, headaches, anxiety, and stress. 

Spleen 6 - this point is located on the inner side of your leg, right above the ankle.  It's important to note to never manipulate this point during pregnancy as it's a popular point for labor induction massage.  This point helps with insomnia, as well as menstrual and pelvic pain and disorders.

Heart  7  - Also called “Shen Men” this spot is on the inside of the wrist if your palm is facing up, and it's at the cross-section of the pinky. This is a great spot to work on if your heart and mind are facing stress, turmoil, uncertainty or anxiety. It will help to calm and relax the patient.

It's important to note that to be effective, acupressure must properly be applied. You can't simply press on points and expect to drift off to sleep. 

How To Do It

The best way to perform any acupressure, including eye acupressure, is to do so first, carefully, and then with firm enough pressure to be effective. This should never be painful, but you should feel a sense of acute pressure in the area you are applying acupressure to.

For a gentler but still effective approach, massaging these points in a circular manner is a relaxing way to ease into the practice. Then,  I typically hold a point for ten to fifteen seconds, then release for about the same amount of time, and then repeating at the same point between 6-10 times, depending on the affliction.

Wishing you a restful night’s sleep.

Sleep Next to a Snorer? How Acupuncture Can Save Your Nights...and Help Your Partner

There’s nothing better than a good night’s sleep. And there’s nothing worse than a bad night’s sleep. And it can be particularly frustrating when the only thing keeping you from a nice a restful slumber is the person next to you—the one you love enough to share a bed with—won’t stop snoring.

But here’s the thing about sleep apnea. While it can be really irritating for the person who is being kept up by loud snoring, the person experiencing it can see everything from their own sleep and energy levels being affected, to worse medical conditions developing down the road. Sleep apnea can lead to depression, reduced concentration and memory, and even come cardiac and metabolic conditions. That’s because sleep apnea results in the body taking in less oxygen, which the blood needs for our body’s most important processes to function properly.

Many people who are diagnosed with sleep apnea try a CPAP (Continuous Positive Air Pressure) machine, which has proven to be helpful for some people with certain levels of sleep apnea. But whether one suffers from minor or major sleep apnea, research shows that acupuncture is more effective than a CPAP machine at helping eliminate sleep apnea.

We know that acupuncture helps improve blood circulation, and it also helps to improve blood oxygen levels. Acupuncture can also help reduce stress, anxiety and depression, and other conditions that affect sleep generally. It stands to reason than acupuncture would be an effective treatment for sleep apnea, and the research confirms: “In the studies included in this analysis, acupuncture consistently improved all measures used to assess the effectiveness of treatment [of sleep apnea],” it says.

So don’t spend another night on the couch because your partner is snoring up a storm. Tell them to come on in and receive acupuncture treatment. You’ll be doing both of you a big favor!

8 Reasons Why Now Is The Perfect Time To Try Acupuncture

The holidays are in full swing and the end of the year is almost upon us. Which means it’s the perfect time to try acupuncture! Here are 10 reasons why:

1. If acupuncture is covered under your insurance, and there’s a chance you’ve hit your out-of-pocket maximum at this point, why not try and sneak in your first acupuncture appointment before the calendar turns over? This is the perfect time of year to experience first hand the holistic healing benefits of acupuncture.

2. The holidays means gifts, family…and lots of food. Did you overeat (and over drink!) a bit this season? Acupuncture is known to promote and aid in healthy weight loss.

3. This time of year also brings about lots of traveling, which can be tiring, stressful, and take us off of our routines, often messing with our sleep. Thankfully, acupuncture is one of the best and most natural ways to help out with sleeplessness as well as the side effects that come with an interrupted sleep schedule.

4. If you had the luxury of decorating or playing Santa this year—lugging gifts up and down stairs and in and out of cars, carrying heavy shopping bags, putting together your children’s favorite new toys—you may be experiencing some aches and pains. Acupuncture is clinically proven to help back pain and other orthopedic issues.

5. New Year’s resolutions don’t have to begin in the new year. Why not get a jumpstart on your wellness resolution now? The more and more you put it off, the less likely you are to truly follow through. Get next year off on the right foot right away!

6. Relatedly, acupuncture has preventative benefits as well. If you’re planning on working out more in the new year, beginning acupuncture now can help prevent much of the soreness that comes with working out and help you recover quickly so you can get back out there as soon as possible.

7. Shopping, family, traveling…all of these put together can stress you out big time. Acupuncture is thankfully here to help, as one of the best ways you can naturally de-stress and relax your body and mind.

8. Spending the holidays with family and friends is wonderful, but it can be a bit overwhelming at times to find yourself without any me-time. Acupuncture is a great way to reconnect with your body, mind and soul.

Sleep + Acupuncture

Soon we’ll get an extra hour of sleep thanks to Daylight Savings Time - but what if that doesn’t really apply to you?

You know the feeling — you’re tired, groggy, and can’t wait to be reunited with your big comfy bed. The only problem is that once you get there, you just cant fall or stay asleep.

Missing out on deep, restorative sleep can wreak havoc on nearly all aspects of your life. Essential for physical, emotional and mental health, sleep is your body’s opportunity to heal, rest and recover from the previous day while gaining energy for the day ahead. Without it, nearly everything suffers.

Luckily, acupuncture can help. How, you might ask?

Courtesy of the blog at Bulletproof.com, this preliminary report from 2004 showed that patients who experienced acupuncture treatment demonstrated an increase of melatonin at night, while reducing both insomnia and anxiety — which often go hand in hand.

This is something we’ve long believed in and have seen for ourselves time and time again, but a bit of research can’t hurt.

Acupuncture for sleep is not just anxious people to find relief, either. Back in 1999 this study concluded that, “true and individualized acupuncture indeed shows efficacy in primary sleep disorders. However, a direct influence by the therapist cannot be excluded.”

By placing the acu-needles at specific points to target your chief complaint (in this case,lack of sleep) energy (qi) can be balanced within the body while stagnant energy is released. Additionally inflammation can be reduced, muscle tension eased, and the mind relaxed — all conditions that will promote better, longer and deeper rest.

So, whether you are suffering from legitimate insomnia or more general restlessness and difficulty sleeping, we can help. Act now, and you can enjoy that extra hour of snoozing.

Acupuncture Helps Veterans with PTSD Sleep Better

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, otherwise known as PTSD, is a disorder that develops in people after they have experienced a shocking, scary or traumatic event. It can either be short term or chronic, and symptoms include bad dreams and trouble sleeping, feeling tense and on edge, having angry outbursts, depression, and more. PTSD affects around 8% of Americans, around 24 million people.

While anyone who experiences a traumatic experience can become affected by PTSD, Awareness around PTSD has grown in the public consciousness over the past few years in relation to military veterans who suffer from it. The situations that our servicemen and women endure are unsurprisingly incredibly difficult to deal with emotionally. Unfortunately, adequate care for our veterans is not always top of mind in our country.

Thankfully, studies are beginning to show what acupuncturists have known—that the ancient practice is an effective, safe, and lasting treatment for PTSD, particularly the insomnia and uneven sleep patterns that veterans suffer from. A recent survey done at the Atlanta Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Georgia in conjunction with Emory University determined gave a group of veterans, with a mean age of 40 and suffering from PTSD and mild traumatic brain injuries 10 acupuncture administrations. The other half of the group received sham acupuncture, and the findings were clear.

“Acupuncture provides meaningful relief for a particularly recalcitrant problem affecting large segments of the veteran population,” the study said. The relief was judged by sleep study, measured by the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, and showed that those who received acupuncture received a 2.7% increase in sleep efficiency.

If you or anyone you know suffers from PTSD and particularly struggles with sleeping, let them know that acupuncture is here to treat them safely and for the long term. And don’t forget to thank them for their sacrifice and service to our country!

Cant Sleep? Try Acupuncture.

We spend about a third of our lives asleep. This can be music to the ears of many, or a frightful realization for those who struggle with slumber.

We’ve all been there, when you just can’t fall asleep, or stay asleep, due to racing thoughts, stressors, too much caffeine, or lack of comfort. But what about when this continues for days, weeks, even months? Acupuncture can help.

According to sleep.org,  “Acupuncture, an ancient Chinese practice, has been linked to improved sleep and has also been shown to help treat insomnia.”

While more research is needed to determine exactly how it helps, many people swear by the effects. We know the procedure can help patients to relax and improve their sense of wellbeing, but according to the site it has also, “been shown to help manage sleep apnea, perhaps because it strengthens the tongue and prevents it from dropping back during the night and blocking your airway.”

Furthermore, according to Insomnia.net, there are a few types of insomnia, according to Chinese Medicine, including:

·       Sleep onset or difficulty going to sleep

·       Middle of the night, or waking and unable to go back to sleep right away

·       Terminal or late insomnia, or waking in the very early morning and cannot return to sleep again

·       Sleep with vivid and disruptive dreaming

·       Inability to sleep, in general.

It is important to keep in mind that a singular session may help to relax you, but to truly combat insomnia it is important to come up with a treatment plan that will span a period of assigned time. This largely depends on the nature, and cause of your insomnia.

To improve results, there are a few complimentary lifestyle changes that will work in conjunction with acupuncture. These can include restricting caffeine intake, limiting exposure to technology for 30-60 minutes prior to sleep time, breathing exercises, and light stretching.

Sweet dreams!