Acupuncture For Insomnia: How To Sleep Better And Reclaim Your Nights

Are you struggling to fall asleep or stay asleep, or are your sleep patterns erratic? Sleep is essential for physical, mental, and emotional health - and that includes fertility. 

Acupuncture for insomnia and sleep disruptions can reset your body’s neurological and energetic systems, bringing a sense of calm and restoring healthy sleep habits.

Healthy sleep habits are associated with:

• Better moods

• Improved focus

• Normal energy levels

• Higher metabolic rates and weight management

• Healthy immune system function

• Reduced stress levels

• Balanced hormone levels

That latter point impacts women’s reproductive health and fertility.

Use Acupuncture For Insomnia To Restore Healthy Sleep Habits & Support Fertility

Sleep disruptions have a cascade effect on the body. Anyone who experiences a night of insomnia or less sleep than they need knows how tired, cranky, and foggy they feel the next day. However, in addition to the common side effects of lack of sleep, internal disruptions compromise well-being due to hormone imbalance, which compromises multiple body systems.

Sleep Is Essential For Hormone Balance

The human body is a biochemical factory, and much of the production and regulation occurs during restorative sleep hours. Even something as simple as looking at your screen can start a cascade of hormonal dysregulation. For example, as the sun sets, your pupils dilate. This dilation from lack of natural light tells the brain to ramp up melatonin production and secretion. 

However, even something as simple as watching TV or looking at your phone before shutting it off constricts the pupils - signaling daytime to the brain - and melatonin production/secretion diminishes again. After exposure to even the littlest bit of electric light, the brain has a hard time falling asleep - or staying asleep - which disrupts all of the other biochemical chain reactions necessary to rejuvenate, restore, and balance the body’s physical, mental and emotional status - including hormone levels.

By using acupuncture for sleep disorders, including stress-related insomnia, brings the body’s hormones back into balance, improving fertility rates for both timing intercourse at home or while pursuing fertility treatments.

Sleep Disruptions Are Linked To Infertility

Recently, researchers have correlated sleep disruptions and infertility rates. 

• Both men and women with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) have higher infertility rates.

• Women with OSA have more failed fertility treatments than those who don’t.

• Women with insomnia and other sleep disorders have higher rates of irregular periods, infertility, and more intense menopause symptoms (Sleep Med Review)

• Women who do shift work at night tend to have higher infertility rates than those who observe a traditional daytime wake/nighttime sleep cycle - having a 20% harder time getting pregnant (Journal of Women’s Health). 

And the list goes on. These studies show how important it is that women address sleep disorders, including OSA and insomnia, to support hormone health and future fertility chances.

Acupuncture Improves Hormone Balance And Sleep Habits

Acupuncture is a natural way to sleep better, and regulate hormone balance, supporting a symbiotic relationship between the two.

During your first acupuncture session, we’ll discuss your experience and what type of sleep disruptions you’re experiencing. Then we’ll create a comprehensive plan to get healthy sleep habits back on track.

Setting healthy foundations for sleep

Healthy sleep habits begin with sleep-friendly lifestyle choices. This includes things like:

• Managing diet to exclude stimulants and ingredients that interrupt sleep while increasing your intake of foods that support sleep.

• Get moderate exercise at least 30 minutes daily, five days a week (preferably outdoors, as daylighting maintains your natural circadian rhythm).

• Creating a relaxing bedtime routine that sets the tone for “sleep time.”

• Ensuring the bedroom supports winding down and falling asleep (high-quality mattress/pillows, dimmable lights, blackout curtains, red nightlights, no screens, etc.).

• Turning off all screens (including phones and tablets) at least 30 minutes or more before heading to bed.

We can also discuss traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) herbs and supplements that promote nighttime relaxation and sound sleep without that heavy, dull feeling caused by OTC or prescription sleep medications.

Customize acupuncture treatments to address underlying issues

Depending on what we learn, we’ll customize acupuncture treatments that address the underlying sleep issues, ranging from stress and OSA to hormone dysregulation or anxiety. We’ll look at the original benchmark at each appointment, note what you’re experiencing, and continue tweaking acupuncture appointments accordingly.

Suggestions for additional sleep support

We’ll also discuss recommendations for additional sleep support and hormone balance, including:

• TCM herbs/supplementation

• Moxibustion, which addresses hormone balance as well as anxiety and sleep issues.

• Additional acupressure or massages that can integrate with your acupuncture sessions.

We aim to support you in the most well-rounded and research-based ways we can.

Schedule An Appointment For Better Sleep At Mitchell Family Acupuncture

Are you ready to sleep better and reclaim your nights? Are you doing all you can to create a balanced body for your next family-building journey? Schedule a consultation at Mitchell Family Acupuncture. We can’t wait to help get you back on track and feel like your best self again.

Acupuncture For Pain Management For Women’s Health: A Natural Alternative

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) techniques like acupressure and acupuncture have been used successfully for thousands of years. However, in this era when dangerous - and life-threatening - addictions to opioids are increasingly common, holistic healthcare professionals advocate for acupuncture as a natural alternative to opioids. Acupuncture reduces or alleviates pain without any related risks of addiction, overdose, or suicide. 

The American Academy of Medical Acupuncture (AAMA) states:

Addiction affects a victim’s body, mind, and spirit. Acupuncture appears to have a beneficial effect on all three aspects and should be considered an important component of a multidisciplinary approach to opioid dependence and in the treatment of opioid or other substance addiction. 

According to multiple clinical studies, some of the most typical uses of acupuncture for pain management involve relief from:

• Headaches and migraines

• Neck, back, and shoulder pain

• Fibromyalgia

• Arthritis (both osteo- and rheumatoid)

• Post-surgical or post-acute injury pain

• Endometriosis

• Chronic pain

• Neuropathy

• Cancer and related treatments (particularly chemotherapy & radiation)

There are several reasons acupuncture relieves pain while also treating chronic inflammation - which exacerbates pain or discomfort)

Acupuncture Relieves & Inhibits Pain Signaling 

Thousands of years ago, healers in the Eastern world noticed that the body had multiple energy centers and a network of energy pathways that intersected at smaller energy hubs. TCM refers to these energy centers and hubs as “meridians,” and it’s no surprise that they align with Western medicine’s model of the nervous system - from crown to sacrum and throughout our body and extremities.

The more tension, pain, inflammation, or trapped energy triggers these key pressure points, the more likely we are to experience pain, discomfort, disease, and lack of energy. Poor energy flow throughout the meridians also causes insomnia, heightened anxiety, and digestive ailments - exacerbating any underlying health issues.

During an acupuncture session with a licensed acupuncturist, very thin needles are painlessly inserted along the meridian lines and key pressure points, depending on a patient’s symptoms. By stimulating these points and pathways, the body:

• Releases endorphins, serotonin, and other self-produced biochemicals that relieve pain.

• Restores healthy energy flow, further relaxing tense or long-held energy and emotions.

• Relaxes and also energizes.

• Becomes less inflamed, which restores healthier immune system responses.

• Reprograms repeat pain signals that can continue along the nervous system's pathways long after the original trigger, event, or cause of pain is gone.

With repeat sessions, the body can reset and continually reap acupuncture’s benefits, which continue healing momentum with minimal risk (and no threatening) side effects. That said, most patients experience some level of pain relief and increased relaxation in a single session.

Using Acupuncture To Avoid Opioids

Unfortunately, Western medicine isn’t always as long-thinking in its approach to pain management. The use of highly-addictive opioids is an example of that. While effective in a very short-term approach, the overall effects of opioids do not provide any sustainable results. 

Studies reveal that continued use of opioids is dangerous

In fact, studies prove that any continued use of opioids:

• Reduces a patient’s pain tolerance creating a higher dependence on pain relievers.

• Creates an addiction cycle that is extremely hard to break.

• Increases a person’s risk for depression and suicidal thoughts.

The situation is so serious that the federal government calls it an “opioid crisis” and is in the process of regulating this drug’s prescribed use. In the meantime, holistic health professionals do all they can to spread the word about acupuncture and other natural, healthy alternatives to opioid use.

Fortunately, many mainstream Western medicine practitioners also support acupuncture as a natural alternative to opioids.

The AAFP supports acupuncture as a natural opioid alternative

A recent article published by the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) supports the use of acupuncture as a healthy form of pain relief. In addition, their Health of the Public and Science Division director, Dr. Jennifer Frost acknowledges that “...nonpharmacologic treatments such as acupuncture may provide benefits to some patients…especially important given the effects of the ongoing opioid epidemic on pain management.”

Unlike most pharmaceutical solutions for pain, which can do a decent job of masking pain but don’t cure or address the cause, acupuncture gets to the root source of the pain. By addressing the cause of the pain and accompanying complications (like inflammation, poor diet, other underlying health conditions, etc.), we can slowly but surely get the body back into a more balanced and comfortable state.

Let MFA Show You What Natural, Effective Pain Management Feels Like

Give your body a break from the toxic and risky side effects of prescription pain medications like opioids. Mitchell Family Acupuncture wants to show you what it feels like to experience pain management that supports more healthy, comfortable, and relaxed well-being.

Contact us to schedule an acupuncture appointment and learn about other pain-relieving techniques, tools, nutritional/lifestyle supports, and supplements. 

Acupuncture For Tinnitus: How It Can Help You Find Silence

A recent article published by Healthy Hearing, Can menopause cause hearing loss and tinnitus, states:

It's possible that your hearing may change, or you may develop tinnitus (ringing in the ears) as you approach menopause…Sex hormone levels change during a menstrual cycle, and during menstruation, your hearing can become less sensitive…both human and animal studies have shown that low estrogen levels can impair hearing, possibly through alterations in blood flow to the cochlea, the hollow tube in the inner ear. A separate study that measured hearing and blood levels of estradiol (a form of estrogen) in 1,830 post-menopausal women found that the volunteers with less estradiol were more likely to have hearing loss. 

This is invaluable information because it informs us that restoring and supporting hormone balance plays a crucial role in treating tinnitus and optimizing hearing for women.

The Role Of Hormone Balance & Tinnitus

Tinnitus is a general term that refers to a perception of sound that prevails even when no sound stimuli occur. In most cases, tinnitus occurs through a continuous buzz, hissing, or tones (like a high-pitched ringing) that rarely cease. And it’s not just estrogen levels that affect hearing. 

The Healthy Hearing post adds that progesterone levels also impact estrogen cell receptors. So, while progesterone doesn’t directly interact with the cochlea, any imbalance in progesterone may reduce estrogen receptors in the cochlea, contributing to tinnitus and other hearing loss symptoms.

Recent research also shows that people with tinnitus have higher rates of anxiety, depression, and stress. The verdict is still out on which came first - anxiety/depression/anxiety or tinnitus. Odds are they are intricately related - and now we know that female hormone (im)balance also plays a role. 

Beyond PMS & Menopause

While most studies focus on women who experience irregular periods and menopause, we can think of other specific conditions that might cause hormone-related hearing loss or tinnitus, such as:

• Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) - recent studies indicate women with PCOS have higher rates of high-frequency hearing loss.

• Endometriosis

• Thyroid conditions that affect hormone balance

• Being underweight or obese (both of which contribute to hormone imbalance

• Type 2 diabetes

• Autoimmune disorders

It’s no coincidence that the above diagnoses are some of the most common causes of female infertility in the United States. So, tinnitus isn’t the only reason women with hormone-related hearing loss should make acupuncture a part of their wellness plan.

Acupuncture Eases Tinnitus & Hearing Loss By Restoring Balance

Currently, most physicians treat female tinnitus using medications, anxiety-relieving exercises, and specific therapies for those who experience anxiety-related tinnitus. While the latter two may support the root cause, medications are typically used to mask or cover the symptoms of a condition without actually curing it.

Acupuncture eases tinnitus and hearing loss by treating the root cause: hormone imbalance. By using a combination of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) practices, we can restore hormone balance, reduce anxiety, and provide nutrition and supplements that also treat tinnitus and hearing loss from the inside out.

Acupuncture for hormone balance

Acupuncture has been used for thousands of years to support healthy hormone balance and relieve the symptoms of conditions and symptoms caused by hormone imbalance. After your initial consultation, we’ll insert tiny needles, just below the skin's surface, at specific locations along meridian pathways that nourish hormone production, and assimilation, and restore healthy hormone levels. 

Extra support for relaxation

We can also integrate acupressure massages to relax the nervous system further, restore energetic flow, and further support hormone health. Most clients who begin using acupressure massages for hormone balance or relaxation benefits make massages a regular part of their self-care routine.

Nutritional & supplementation support

Dr. Sharon Curhan, one of the leading researchers for studies examining women’s hormone levels and hearing loss, remarked, “We found that people who ate diets that most closely resembled the Mediterranean or DASH [Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension] patterns had a substantially lower risk of hearing loss.” (Healthy Hearing). 

TCM practitioners understand how vital lifestyle choices, including nutrition and targeted supplementation, are to maintaining hormone balance and overall well-being. During your appointments, we can discuss details about preventing or minimizing hormone-related hearing loss symptoms with the right nourishing foods and supplements.

Let Mitchell Family Acupuncture Restore Peace & Quiet Again

Do you suspect your tinnitus or hearing results from hormone imbalance or high anxiety/stress? Have you noticed an uptick in tinnitus before/during your period or as a result of the transition into and beyond menopause? Schedule an appointment with Mitchell Family Acupuncture. We take the time to get to know you, thoroughly review your medical and reproductive history, and create a personalized treatment approach that gets to the heart of the matter.

Benefits Of Prenatal Massage

The benefits of massage for fertility don’t stop once you’re pregnant. Studies show that prenatal massage has notable benefits for both mother and baby. The key is to find licensed practitioners specially trained to provide pregnancy massage.

Women with healthy, low-risk pregnancies can enjoy prenatal massages throughout their pregnancy - continuing through the third trimester. During your first appointment, we’ll take a detailed and thorough account of your reproductive and medical history to ensure massage is a safe next step for you. 

NOTE: Women who are bleeding, having early contractions, or experiencing a high-risk pregnancy (or have a history of high-risk pregnancies) should seek approval from their OB/GYN before scheduling a prenatal massage appointment.

5 Proven Benefits of Prenatal Massage For Mama & Baby

Many people think of massage as a “luxury” even though studies prove over and over again that massage benefits the body, mind, and spirit. Pregnant women are especially supported by the use of massage during pregnancy. 

The American Pregnancy Association (APA) emphasizes its support of pregnancy massages due to research-based findings demonstrating how massage promotes pregnancy health for the mother and her unborn child. Here are five ways prenatal massage can help you enjoy a healthier pregnancy, labor, and delivery.

Hormone regulation

The combination of pregnancy hormones, which include the gearing up of lactation hormones, means your body is a regular hormone factory on fire. The massage techniques used for prenatal massages work to improve circulation and the movement of lymphatic fluid through your body. In doing so, these gentle massage techniques allow pregnant women to relax as the massage activates the production of hormones known to reduce stress while ridding the body of adrenaline or other “stress hormones” that can become blocked or stuck.

The APA writes that in multiple studies conducted in the past decade:

…women who received bi-weekly massages for only five weeks, hormones such as norepinephrine and cortisol (hormones associated with stress) were reduced, and dopamine and serotonin levels were increased (low levels of these hormones are associated with depression).

Since you and your baby share the same blood and hormone supply, your de-stressed, more relaxed, and hormone-balanced state benefits you both. During massage treatments, you can add services like Gua Sha to increase circulation or energize a stagnant lymph system.

Reduced pregnancy discomfort

Pregnancy is a time of great joy, but some women also experience significant discomfort. The combination of prenatal massage and personalized acupuncture can significantly reduce some of the most common pregnancy discomforts, including:

• Morning sickness

• Lower back aches (including sciatic pain)

• Joint pain

• Swelling (edema)

• Muscle tension and headaches

Integrating pregnancy massages into your prenatal care routine may mean you experience very minimal to no pregnancy discomfort, making for a much more satisfying experience. 

Improved sleep 

There’s no mystery that sleep cycles are disrupted with the addition of a new baby. However, many first-time mothers are surprised to experience disrupted sleep cycles long before the baby is born. Hormone-related changes, along with the ever-expanding abdomen, mean most women begin waking up more than usual during their first trimester. 

Massage-related benefits of reduced stress, balanced hormones, and reduced physical discomforts mean most women who get regular prenatal messages report they sleep better than women who go without them. Don’t forget to mention any particular pregnancy issues you’re experiencing so your massage therapist can modify or augment the massage to activate certain pressure points.

Reduced nerve pain

The pressure of the growing baby can lead to pinched or triggered nerves. This can sometimes result in nerve pain or discomfort, such as sciatica (which can affect the lower back, hips, legs, and feet), restless legs, or generalized muscle tension or pain. Your prenatal massage allows you to relax, while specific prenatal massage techniques reduce nerve pressure and inflammation.

Improved labor & delivery outcomes

Clinical studies also show that women who have regular prenatal massages experience improved labor and delivery outcomes. This includes shorter labor, shorter hospital stays, and fewer incidences of post-partum depression. Equally inspiring is the data we have on babies whose mothers received pregnancy massages. 

According to the American Massage Therapy Association (AMTA), clinical trials “...indicate that infants born to mothers who had massage therapy had lower cortisol levels, better neonatal outcomes, and fewer incidences of low birth weight and prematurity.” 

What exciting and empowering news. Your prenatal massage is a proactive way to create a safer, healthier, and more peaceful future for your infant-to-be.

Schedule A Prenatal Massage With Mitchell Family Acupuncture

Mitchell Family Acupuncture’s specialty includes a personalized approach to pregnancy, postpartum, and pediatrics/family medicine that promotes well-being and vitality for all. We love to watch our pregnant clients blossom and grow while reaping the benefits of our personalized prenatal massage. Schedule your appointment today.