Insomnia Relief with Acupressure

This is the web page that will focus on Insomnia. This page will include background, research, articles, how to start using the points, blogs, facebook, twitter connections and all other networking information. This page will be open only to people who are part of the acupressure study program and are allowing us to assist them to get the best personal results possible and to track their progress.

The link to the points for relief of Insomnia are found below. In general you should include the points for Insomnia along with the specific points for the part of the body or type of Insomnia that you are working with.

Insomnia

Acupuncture and acupressure have a long tradition of treating insomnia successfully, particularly in the elderly. Vitamins, along with homeopathic and herbal remedies, may also improve symptoms in some individuals.

Some reports suggest that certain acupuncture procedures have a nearly 90% success rate for the treatment of insomnia. Through a complex series of signals to the brain, acupuncture increases the amount of certain substances in the brain, such as serotonin, which promote relaxation and sleep.

Several clinical studies have found that auricular acupuncture is effective in reducing symptoms of insomnia, such as difficultly in falling asleep and remaining asleep. Auricular acupuncture uses needles placed at various points in the ear. Further studies should be performed.

Clinical studies of elderly people with sleep disturbances suggest that acupressure enhances sleep quality and decreases awakenings during the night. An acupressure practitioner works with the same points used in acupuncture, but stimulates these healing sites with finger pressure, rather than inserting fine needles. Clinical studies support the use of auricular (ear) acupressure for improving sleep quality in elderly patients and possibly in healthy adults of all ages. A small clinical study also found that acupressure may help with sleep apnea.

Acupuncture & Insomnia

Acupuncture treatment can aid sleep in healthy individuals, according to French researchers.

Auto massage of ‘point 7 heart’ of acupuncture was studied in six healthy volunteers (average age 28 years) a randomised, double blind, and crossover protocol. Polygraph measurements of the subjects’ night’s sleep between 11pm and 7am were monitored whilst the subjects received two ‘PEBA’ cones (Polyet her Block Amides; Isocones) fixed bilaterally at both of the ‘7 heart’ points (the active treatment) or on the back of the hand (the placebo application). Two weeks later, the two groups switched treatment.

Cyclic alternating patterns (CAP) were also analysed on the electroencephalogram during non-REM sleep. Sleep efficiency increased in the active treatment group, due to a decrease in wakefulness, and an increase in total sleep time due to an increase in non-REM sleep. The number of CAP decreased in active treatment, as did the number of CAP sequences and the ratio of CAP du-ration to total sleep time (CAP rate) and to the duration of slow-wave sleep. These changes were not observed in the placebo group.

The researchers concluded that the application of Isocones at point 7 heart during the night could improve sleep patterns of healthy individuals.

(1) Rust M, Cohen LA (1994) Anaesthesia. 49 (supplement): 16-23
(2) Andrzejowski j, Woodward D. Semi-permanent acupuncture needles in the prevention of post-operative nausea and vomiting. Acupuncture in Medicine November 1996 Vol 14, No 2 68 70

Japanese Wooden Needle Technique vs. Pharmaceuticals for Insomnia

The wooden needle is a acupressure device. While common in many forms of medicine, one popular set of techniques come from the Japanese acupuncturist, Manaka, in his wooden hammer technique. This study used 120 patients, 60 of which received the western drug Alprazolam (Xanax) and the other 60 used the wooden needle/acupressure techniques. Using a sleep quality index the study found that the wooden needle technique group outperformed the Alprazolam/Xanax group. Therapeutically the outcomes were quite similar showing that these techniques can be used in lieu of western medications.

Acupressure Effect on Insomnia in Elderly Patients (3)

This study looked at the effect of acupressure on the point HT 7 to alleviate insomnia in elderly patients. Looking at 50 elderly patients in long-term care facilities, the study used acupressure on HT 7 bilaterally over the course of 5 weeks. 25 patients received treatment and the other 25 provided a control group. At the end of the study the acupressure group received a significant benefit from treatment. Interestingly, a 2 week follow-up after the conclusion of treatment showed continual benefits even though treatment had ceased. This illustrates that acupressure has longer term effects and does not require constant intervention to be helpful.