Sleep Better with Acupuncture, Herbs and Ear Seeds
Do you spend long nights awake tossing and turning? Without around 8 hours of sleep in a night, you’re missing out on the big clean-up ritual our body performs to restore and replenish. This might not be a big deal when you’re younger but as you age, losing sleep feels worse and worse. Because chronic insomnia can lead to profound health issues like chronic pain, cancer, heart disease, and Alzheimer’s, it is super important to find a sleep solution that works for you.
Most of you have at least one good night of sleep after your acupuncture session even if we’re not focusing on insomnia, right? This is because acupuncture can have a regulating effect on the nervous system and studies have shown that acupuncture treatments decrease what is known as the “hyperarousal” state in the brain, the part that easily wakes us up during the night. If insomnia is your primary concern, we have specific acupuncture point protocols that can work more directly on sleep. The most common acupuncture points are needled very shallowly around the head and ears, as well as on the legs and arms. And because acupuncture is a holistic medicine, we of course always take into consideration what may be causing sleeplessness (anxiety, depression, pain, or hormonal imbalances are often culprits) and work on those at the same time.
If any of the above conditions are preventing you from sleeping, we have many herbal remedy options to try. Plant medicine is gentle and has little to no side effects so you can wake up feeling refreshed and not groggy. We make our own Deep Sleep Tea and this is a fantastic herbal formula that you can brew at home and keep in your fridge all week. You just warm up a mug an hour or so before bed and enjoy deeper sleep that night. We also have other great sleep formulas depending on specific needs such as hot flashes or anxiety. Ear seeds are another great tool that you can use at home to give yourself acupressure on important relaxation and sleep points before bed or if you wake up in the night. We sell little ear seed kits at the front desk that have instructions on how to use them. If you're struggling with sleep, please ask us next time you’re in! We’re happy to use all our tools to help make sure you get the rest you need!