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Acupuncture for Insomnia
Roughly 60 million Americans are affected by a sleep disorder each year. There are many causes of insomnia, so treatment can vary from person to person. Ellie Pickering, L.Ac. recognizes that each person is unique and creates treatment plans based on his/her individual symptoms.
Treatment Plans Treatment plans will include an initial consultation (no charge), acupuncture, massage, accessory techniques (cupping, moxibustion, guasha, etc.), Chinese herbs, and a nutritional evaluation. Other aspects of treatment will involve analyzing daytime practices, room preparation, and bedtime rituals. The duration of treatment can last 8-12 weeks (one time per week) with follow-up maintenance treatments. |
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Clinical Studies
Clinical studies have shown that acupuncture can Improve the quality of sleep, total sleep time, sleep efficiency, and daytime functioning. Published in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine in November, 2009, researchers from the Center for Evidence-Based Chinese Medicine in Beijing, China examined 46 randomized trials with a total of 3,811 patients. The results of their analysis found the following statistically significant results:
- Acupuncture was better than no treatment or sham acupuncture at improving sleep
- Acupuncture was equal to medications on measures of sleep duration
- Acupuncture plus medications were superior to medications alone
- Acupuncture plus Chinese herbs were better than herbs alone
- Real acupressure (tuina) was better than sham acupressure
- No serious side effects occurred from acupuncture in any of the trials
