Insomnia is defined as the chronic inability to sleep or remain asleep throughout the night that lasts more than one month in duration. According to many American clinics, approximately 10-15% of adults report chronic insomnia. It is recommended that adults receive at least 7-9 hours of sleep per night. Quality and sufficient sleep is an essential part of a healthy lifestyle and going without it may have negative long term effects on your body.
Sleep has many effects on the body, including:
•Assisting the body in maintaining effective metabolism and efficient digestion
•Promoting clear thinking, memory, and overall cognitive ability
•helps you to maintain a healthy outlook and stabilize your mood
•aids in both the physical and mental recovery of the body at the end of the day
•helps the body’s immune system to stay strong and healthy.
Without sleep, a person may experience mood changes, increased agitation, increased anxiety or worry, lack of mental clarity and difficulty with memory, worsening of chronic pain or chronic conditions, poor digestion, leading to excessive weight gain, decreased will power and/or the energy to start new tasks, an increased frequency of illness and sickness and overall decreased ability to function throughout daytime activities.
Additionally, there may be other conditions that prevent someone from sleeping peacefully, such as (but not limited to):chronic pain, recent surgery and its side effects, stress from work, school, relationships, digestive disorders such as irritable bowel syndrome, seasonal allergies and fibromyalgia syndrome.
In Chinese medicine, insomnia usually involves either the heart channel, kidney channel, liver channel, spleen channel, or any a combination of these channels. When one of these meridians becomes unbalanced, it can have a dramatic effect on sleep. Furthermore, each one of these meridians has a specific function in the body’s ability to maintain a consistent mood, have a clear mind and clear thinking, maintain efficient digestion, and have enough energy to carry out daily activities. Using specific acupuncture points and Chinese herbs, all of these channels and your body may become balanced, allowing you to sleep a restful and peaceful night.
Since acupuncture Bellmore and Chinese medicine have a holistic approach to medicine, balancing sleep can easily be figured into each treatment. This allows other conditions to be treated while balancing sleep if necessary or sleep can be treated directly. Without quality and consistent sleep, chronic conditions may become exacerbated, as well as illnesses and injuries may take longer to heal.