Insomnia and Sleep Issues
Insomnia is often a sign that stress has worn down the body's ability to relax. Joshua uses acupuncture and tailored Chinese herbs to help restore balance between the sleep and wake cycles.
How Chinese Medicine Looks at Insomnia
Insomnia has many possible causes and is often connected to other conditions, such as anxiety, depression, high blood pressure and perimenopause. Joshua sees many cases of insomnia as a sign of body exhaustion that builds slowly over years of stress, poor diet, late nights, constant stimulation and too little downtime.
Healthy sleep depends on balance between the part of the nervous system that keeps you alert and the part responsible for "rest and digest." Chinese medicine describes these as yang and yin energies. With insomnia there is usually a lack of calming yin energy, and the nervous system cannot shut off at night. In long-standing cases the body moves from overstimulation into exhaustion, which can bring low energy, cravings, weight gain and lowered immunity.
How Joshua Treats Insomnia
Acupuncture is known for calming the nervous system. It is thought to lower stress hormones, support the body's own serotonin production, improve blood flow to the brain and trigger the relaxation response. Over time the body relearns relaxation pathways, and the effects are cumulative. Acupuncture may also help reduce chronic pain that keeps people from sleeping soundly.
Chinese herbal formulas are tailored to the underlying pattern of each person's insomnia, and they can help speed up progress when combined with acupuncture. Joshua uses herbs from companies that follow Good Manufacturing Practices. Formulas are mixed as concentrated powders that dissolve in hot water, and pills are available for those who do not like the taste.
Acupuncture can be used while taking sleep medication. For people on blood thinners or those who are nervous about needles, thinner Japanese needles can be used.
What to Expect
It is best to give acupuncture several treatments before deciding whether it helps. Some people notice changes right away, while others take several weeks. Chronic cases that involve deep exhaustion take longer and need more ongoing care.
Self-Care Tips
- Go to bed a half hour earlier during the week.
- Include a small portion of complex carbohydrates with protein at dinner to help your body release serotonin and relax.
- Build some downtime into your evening, away from work, TV and smartphones.
Acupuncture and Chinese medicine are not a substitute for medical care. Talk with your doctor about new, severe or worsening symptoms.
How Joshua may treat it
Care is tailored to each patient and often combines more than one approach.
Acupuncture
Thin, sterile needles placed at specific points to support the body's own healing response.
Chinese Herbal Medicine
Custom formulas that are adjusted as your condition changes.
Cupping
Glass cups that create suction to release tight, tense muscles.
Gua Sha
A traditional technique for tight, sore and restricted muscles.
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Whether it's gardening, playing with your kids, sleeping through the night, jogging on the beach, or simply getting through the day without pain, our personalized acupuncture treatments are designed to help you move, heal, and feel better naturally.