Acupressure For Insomnia: Does It Work?

I'm sure we have all heard different remedies for insomnia, from the perfect little pill to alternative methods.  Here is an interesting article on acupressure's ability to help with insomnia.

There are so many alternative remedies including acupressure for insomnia. In today’s

fast paced world, many people suffer from insomnia for a variety of reasons. Here are a
few reasons why a person may have insomnia:

Pain. Of course pain can keep us from falling asleep or can wake us up in the
night and keep us from ever becoming comfortable enough to go back to sleep
Worry. Worrying about the next day, or how the bills will get paid, or the
wellbeing of a child will or course affect our ability to rest and sleep
Stress. This is different than worry. Often times, we cannot sleep, but cannot
pinpoint exactly what it is we are thinking about. Our mind won’t calm down

enough no matter how tired our body is.
Light or noise. Some of us are ultra sensitive to light and noise no matter how
slight. There are several theories about light deprivation and how it positively
affects the brain and the sleep patterns.

Regardless of the reason for your sleeplessness, acupressure may be a useful tool for you.

There are several ways to use acupressure to possibly help you to relax and sleep. The
first is to go to a practitioner. This may be a good idea if you have pain or illness as that
will relate more to specific points on the body depending on the issue.

The second is apply pressure to the “insomnia” points on your body yourself. One of
those points is called the “Shimien” and is located on the bottom of the foot – you can
look at a chart of pressure points on the sole of the foot in practitioners’ offices or on line.

To locate this point, draw a line from both of your ankle bones to the sole of your foot,
the point is located where these lines overlap at the midline of the sole (just above the
heel of the foot). When you are touching the foot, this will be the most tender spot in this
area.

There are other general insomnia points you can try as well on your wrist, ankle, and
lower leg.

The wrist point is in the crease of your wrist, on the outer (little finger side). This
technique is illustrated in a short video here:

http://www.5min.com/Video/Insomnia-Acupressure-Treatments-33170931

Another insomnia point is on the inside of your ankle, between the large ankle bone and
your Achilles tendon.

The third point is on your lower leg, about 3 inches up from the big bone at your ankle,
just behind the shinbone.

Apply medium pressure for one minute or longer three times a day with your finger,
thumb or knuckle.

Original Article Here

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Nathan says: I gotta admit, I haven't attempted any of these yet, but I figure worst case, I've learned some new relaxation techniques.  =)

How about you?  What methods have you used to get to sleep?  We'd love to hear from you!

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