Acupuncture for Insomnia

Acupuncture is commonly used in treating insomnia in China, and clinical studies have shown that acupuncture may have a beneficial effect on insomnia compared with Western medication. Results published in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine in 2009 are published here by NIH (National Institute of Health). The PDF is available here. 

Analysis of results from trials involving 3811 patients showed a beneficial effect of acupuncture compared with no treatment on total scores of Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. Acupuncture was superior to medications regarding the number of patients with total sleep duration increased for >3 hours. Acupuncture plus medications showed better effect than medications alone on total sleep duration. Similarly, acupuncture plus herbs was significantly better than herbs alone on increase of sleep rates. There were no serious adverse effects with related to acupuncture treatment in the included trials. Acupuncture appears to be effective in treatment of insomnia.