Acupuncture Improves Insomnia Symptoms, Sleep Efficiency and even Obstructive Sleep Apnea
Sleep is essential to overall health and well-being. We all feel more alert, stronger and in a better mood after a full night's sleep.
Unfortunately, many of us are not getting an adequate amount of sleep each night.
According to the American Sleep Association, most healthy adults need 7-9 hours of sleep nightly to function their best. Yet study after study shows that most Americans are not getting close to this amount of sleep.
A National Sleep Survey revealed that 40 percent of respondents are not getting this recommended amount of sleep.
High-quality sleep is essential to overall health. Acupuncture provides a natural solution to poor sleep, ongoing insomnia, and even obstructive sleep apnea. Before we explore the research and benefits of Acupuncture for sleep, let's explore the importance of consistent good-nights rest.
Sleep Health Benefits
There are endless health benefits to high-quality sleep, and it is becoming better understood from a scientific standpoint. This essential health habit maintains heart health, regulates blood sugar, improves memory, improves physical balance, and promotes positive mental health.
Sleep Helps the Body Repair Itself
Sleep is a time for you to relax and recover. The 7-9 hours spent sleeping is also the key time to repair damage caused by daily life. Physical, emotional, and chemical stressors affect the body daily. During the sleep cycle, the body is hard at work repairing the damage of the day to improve health and well-being.
Sleep Reduces Stress
During sleep, the mind and body recover from the stress of daily life. However, not getting enough sleep has the opposite effect. Lack of sleep acts as a major stressor releasing stress hormones and compounding health issues. Consistent, high-quality sleep is a key to reducing stress hormones and promoting long-term well-being.
Sleep Reduces Inflammation
Sleep regulates your immune system. The immune system is intimately connected to the inflammation levels of the body. Without enough sleep, inflammation levels can rise, increasing the risk of many health conditions, including chronic pain, dementia, IBS, ulcers, and heart disease. For more read Those with Insomnia Caused by Chronic Pain Improved Sleep Quality with Modern Acupuncture Treatments.
How does Acupuncture Help?
Acupuncture has been used for thousands of years to improve sleep quality. Recent studies are finding Acupuncture to be an effective non-drug alternative treatment for insomnia.
Acupuncture is earning recognition because it has fewer side effects than the medications prescribed for sleep and is generally easily available.
In fact, a review of 46 trials, including 3,811 patients with insomnia, showed that Acupuncture significantly improved sleep quality and duration when compared to no treatment, medications, or sham Acupuncture.
Acupuncture has even been shown to help with a common condition called sleep apnea. There are several types, and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is the most common. All sleep apnea conditions cause loss of oxygen due to shallow breathing (hypopnea) and interrupted breathing while sleeping.
Acupuncture treatment for snoring and sleep apnea offers a way to address these problems at their source holistically, helping patients sleep well and breathe more freely throughout the night.
A meta-analysis of over 200 randomized trials involving the use of Acupuncture to treat sleep apnea concluded that Acupuncture was more effective overall than CPAP treatment in terms of improving breathing and oxygen levels.
“I have severe insomnia and anxiety and every time I leave Modern Acupuncture, I feel absolutely amazing! I sleep better, I'm less anxious, and my body feels amazing. I definitely believe in acupuncture and recommend it to everyone!” – Jennifer (TX)
If you have trouble sleeping or regularly struggle with fatigue, brain fog or other effects of poor sleep and, you owe it to yourself to try Acupuncture for a better night's sleep.
The benefits of regular Acupuncture extend into the night to improve sleep quality and help the body fully recover.
Visit your local Modern Acupuncture clinic to experience a better night's sleep and work with our Licensed Acupuncturists to improve your sleep quality long-term.
FAQ – Does Acupuncture Hurt?
You may feel a little sensation or tingle at the point, but most patients don’t feel anything at all and often fall asleep during their treatment because of how comfortable they are. Keep in mind that the acupuncture needles are extremely tiny, often smaller than a strand of human hair. Your acupuncturist will make sure that you are comfortable and adjust any point during your acupuncture session that causes discomfort.
Acupuncture Relieves Stress
Modern Acupuncture® is a natural stress relief solution and the leading provider of Acupuncture in the U.S. The most studied theories show that Acupuncture stimulates the body to release naturally produced "feel good" endorphins and stimulates the parasympathetic or "rest and digest" response in our body, alleviating symptoms associated with stress.
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