Very commonly in our clinic we see people come in for a variety of health problems who are also having trouble sleeping. This lack of sleep is often not the patient’s chief complaint, but may be contributing to the ailment at hand more than the patient realizes.
We are a chronically sleep-deprived culture. Even in a relatively quiet town like Baltimore our way of life does not encourage people to go to bed and rise with the sun. In the winter months our daily commutes to and from work are often in darkness. No wonder then that so many people have trouble finding a rhythm that allows for seven to eight hours of good restful sleep.
Sleep deprivation takes a huge toll on the human body. It has been linked to hypertension, diabetes, obesity, depression, heart attack and stroke. People who sleep on average of seven hours of sleep live longer than people who sleep less. Interestingly, too much sleep – nine hours or more – adversely affects mortality rates as well. From a Chinese medicine perspective this is not surprising; Chinese medicine always advocates balance.
There can definitely be too much of a good thing.
Regulating sleep is a key element in treating any kind of pathology. Often by improving sleep alone many health problems will resolve. If difficulty sleeping is the main complaint then improving sleep will prevent other health problems from developing in the first place.
This is why your acupuncturist will ask about sleep so often in the course of treatment. We want to know if you have trouble falling asleep, trouble staying asleep, or trouble waking up. The answer to these questions tells us about the condition of the Heart, which is the organ most relevant to sleep in Chinese medicine.
Additionally we ask about dreams. Dreams that are troublesome and wake the sleeper indicate a disturbance in the energy of the Heart. Nightmares indicate an imbalance of the Liver and Gallbladder energies. The ancient Chinese classics of medicine contain lists of various dreams and ascribe very specific imbalances in the body’s energy to them.
For example, dreams of “very fragrant mushrooms” indicate liver deficiency, whereas “dreams of battle and war” indicate Lung deficiency. Most practitioners of Chinese medicine today do not analyze dreams in such detail, but the general activity of dreaming does indicate basic imbalances.
It is perhaps evident from the brief description above that your acupuncturist will treat sleep problems with a little more finesse than a western medical doctor, who most likely will prescribe Ambien for any type of sleep disorder. Often Chinese medicine will see several different patterns where western medicine will see only one condition.
Obviously it is preferable to regulate sleep naturally than with chemical intervention and acupuncture often has a role to play here. A good night’s sleep is every bit as important to your health as good diet and regular exercise. If you are having trouble sleeping, please do take it seriously and make use of the power of Chinese medicine to intervene naturally and effectively.
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Recently we have had some warm, beautiful November days in Baltimore. But the Indian summer only highlights the underlying movement towards darkness and cold. We will now continue our tour through the seasons and consider how this current shift affects our energy and our bodies. Around us we see trees shedding leaves and grass turning brown.