Getting a Good Night’s Sleep

How did you sleep last night? Perhaps you were one of the millions of Americans tossing and turning. It is estimated that 20 to 40% of American adults suffer from insomnia each year. Even at the low end, that’s 20 million people shuffling through their workdays, with nothing but caffeine addiction and deadline anxiety to “fuel” their body’s machinery. Many with insomnia don’t have enough energy to enjoy their daily lives, or even to hold down a full-time job. Everyone who has suffered from too many nights without sleep knows the feelings of listlessness and the loss of concentration it causes; often, more acute symptoms such as headache, dizziness, and poor memory retrieval follow. Work efficiency plummets, and it becomes more and more difficult to reboot for the smallest task. At Acupuncture Clinic of Brookline, we can help you recharge, starting with the most important tool: a good night’s sleep.

In Western medicine, insomnia is defined by the inability to sleep properly, in terms of quantity and quality. Western medicine recognizes emotional problems such as stress, anxiety, or depression to be very common causes of insomnia. It also recognizes bodily symptoms such as chronic pain, or particular diseases such as cancer, hepatitis, and tuberculosis to be a root cause of lost sleep.

While Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) agrees that conditions such as stress and pain factor into insomnia, it sees a lack of sleep quality and quantity as the symptoms of a physical disorder caused by interruption of Qi or Chi (“energy flow”) and “blood.” This condition relates to organs such as the “heart,” “liver,” “kidney,” and “spleen.” (Although Chinese practitioners use the corresponding Western names of these organs, their function is quite different, and more complex, according to TCM.) In TCM, a person’s spiritual life and sleep are controlled by the heart, liver, and kidneys. When even one of them experiences imbalance, the organs are not able to house the spirit properly: the spirit will then wander, and insomnia occurs.

The two types of insomnia according to Chinese medicine are those caused by “excess” and “deficiency,” with the latter much more common. Worry and anxiety, a weak body, or a prolonged illness can all cause or aggravate deficiencies of qi or blood. For instance, a very common cause of insomnia in middle-aged women experiencing menopause is yin deficiency of the liver and kidney (again, the organs are discussed in their Chinese capacity). An example of excess imbalance occurs when too much heat or phlegm in the heart results in manic symptoms and drastic sleep loss. Another classic cause of insomnia is disruption between the kidney and the heart. The kidney controls the body’s water and houses the body’s spirit; it symbolizes water and cold. The heart is an emperor organ that houses the consciousness and presides over circulation; it symbolizes heat and fire. If either organ experiences an excess of its properties, their communication will be broken, and so will your sleep.

As many causes and types of insomnia that exist, there are acupuncture and herbal therapies to treat them. Recent randomized trials have demonstrated that acupuncture is just as effective as sleep medication for maintaining average hours of sleep, and is in fact more effective at achieving an increase of more than 3 hours of sleep a night. Although herbs alone proved beneficial, the efficacy of treatment increased when acupuncture was added to the herbs. All of these positive results came with no reports of side effects in the 3811 patient cases reviewed. (“Acupuncture for treatment of insomnia: a systematic review of randomized controlled trials.” Cao H, Pan X, Li H, and Liu J. J. Altern Complement Med. 2009 Nov; 15 (11): 1171-86.)

At the Acupuncture Clinic of Brookline, we encourage you to embrace the coming change of season as a time of strength and renewal. We would be happy to answer any questions via email or phone (617-731-0504). Visit http://www.acupunctureclinicforwomen.com for more information.

Guangli Xu, Lic. Ac.