Insomnia is called sleeplessness in ancient Chinese medicine, also known as sleeplessness, sleeplessness and sleeplessness. It is a condition characterized by frequent failure to get normal sleep. The symptoms of insomnia vary in severity, with the milder ones having difficulty falling asleep. There are sleep and easy to wake up, after waking up can not sleep again, and sometimes wake up when sleeping, there are sleep but dreamy, etc.; severe cases can not sleep all night. Insomnia can also appear alone or together with headache, dizziness, palpitations, forgetfulness, etc.
Compared with the ancient people, insomnia is more common, more widespread, and more serious in people today.
There are many causes of insomnia, but the main causes include the following.
(1) Irregularity in starting and living. Lack of regularity in life, do not work and rest on time; or work and rest disorders, busy and uneven, busy all-nighters, idle time in bed, resulting in disruption of the biological clock, autonomic rhythm disorders, disrupting the normal sleep rhythm.
(2) Emotional and mental disorders. The liver is out of order, gas is depressed, depressed and water, fire is inflamed, disturbing the heart and mind, the god is restless, or thinking too much, strain the heart and spleen, the heart blood is depleted, plus the spleen does not produce blood, the heart and mind is not nourished, the god does not keep the house, so it is difficult to sleep at night.
(3) Physical weakness and prolonged illness. Weak body, or after a long illness, kidney yin is depleted, kidney water cannot be served to the heart, water does not help fire, heart fire is hyperactive; or five wills are too extreme, heart fire is incandescent down to warm kidney water, heart xian does not cross, heart fire is hyperactive, heat worries the gods, so insomnia is difficult to sleep.
(4) Irregular appetite. Overeating, gastrointestinal damage, stomach and epigastric distension, mind and soul; or stagnant food, brewed into phlegm heat, congestion in the middle, phlegm heat up together, gastric disharmony, so that can not sleep.
(5) poor environment. Bad bedroom environment, such as frequent noise, air filth, mosquito and fly harassment, bright light stimulation, excessive cold and warmth, as well as changes in regional jet lag, can lead to emotional instability, restlessness, leading to insomnia.
There are many ways to treat insomnia. Here, we introduce several simple and easy methods that have been clinically and repeatedly proven to be effective.
1.Psychological adjustment method
Anyone will encounter difficulty in falling asleep, or wake up and can not sleep again, or even sleepless nights, even those who have always been a good sleep state, go to bed and fall asleep on the pillow, will also encounter occasional insomnia.
Why do some people not have insomnia, while others have insomnia? One very important reason is that insomnia patients “instantly as desired” thought in the revered. Once you meet the difficulty in falling asleep, immediately anxious up, “finished, tonight I will have insomnia!” As time goes by, the mood becomes more and more agitated, the mood is more and more annoyed, and indeed the whole night did not close eyes. At dusk the next day, the insomniac worried about his sleep again, thinking, “Oh my God, I can’t afford to lose sleep again tonight! Otherwise, it’s all over for me!” As a result, the situation was worse than last night, not only did they have trouble sleeping all night, but they also had heartburn. Headaches! Since then, I have contracted insomnia.
In order to overcome insomnia, insomniacs may have gone through a lot of information, sought relief, and even sought medical help everywhere. They have tried all kinds of methods, but none of them give them what they want instantly, so they are completely discouraged and even stop.
The psychological adjustment method is to ask the insomniac to give up the demand for “instant gratification”. The patient himself may have experienced this, tossing and turning all night, and in the early hours of the next morning, thinking, “This night is over, I can’t sleep if I want to.” The patient stopped forcing himself to fall asleep and fell asleep as a result. The specific method of operation is not to force yourself to sleep after going to bed, but to resolve not to sleep, because there has been a long time have not slept, it is not afraid of more than one night today, once you really made this determination, no longer force themselves to sleep immediately, give up the idea of instantly as desired, as a result, unconsciously you fell asleep. In fact, our brains do not rest for twenty-four hours without any problems. One composer told me that he had insomnia for more than 10 years since he was 30 years old, but he was initially afraid of insomnia, and then he stopped thinking about it and felt fine, and did not feel that insomnia would affect his inspiration. Indeed, there is no need to be afraid of insomnia. There are people who die of hunger without eating, who die of thirst without drinking, who die of asphyxiation without breathing, but I have never heard of anyone who died of sleep without sleeping, and when you are really sleepy, you have already fallen asleep. One insomniac told me that she thought so, and no longer took sleeping pills to sleep, but resolved not to sleep and let herself die of sleepiness, and after two days of suffering, she got over it, and on the third day she fell asleep.
2.Self-directed method
Self-guided method is to go to bed, the patient silently read the guide, and gradually induce themselves into the sleep state. When operating, the patient lies on her back in a comfortable position, loosens the tight clothes and jewelry, and relaxes her whole body. The introductory phrase of the self-guidance method is as follows.
Take deep balanced breaths, relax your whole body, close your eyes, imagine yourself in a quiet and comfortable environment, and actively experience your sensations with the following introduction.
(1) My hands and arms are heavy and warm (5 times)
(2) My legs and feet are heavy and warm (5 times)
(3) My abdomen is warm and comfortable (omitted if the patient has ulcer disease, 5 times)
(4) My breathing is deep and balanced (5 times)
(5) My heartbeat is balanced and regular (10 times)
(6) My eyelids are getting heavy (10 times)
(7) My eyes can’t open (5 times)
(8) My brain starts to blur (5 times)
(9) My forehead is cold (10 times)
(10) My whole body is getting relaxed (5 times)
(11) A comfortable warmth flows throughout my body (5 times)
(12) I don’t need to think about anything, just go to sleep (5 times)
(13) My mind is getting fuzzy (10 times)
(14) I don’t want to think about anything, my mind is empty (10 times)
(15) I’m going to sleep ……
If you feel that silent recitation is not possible, you can record the sound beforehand and play the recording when you are going to sleep. The tempo must be very slow when reciting. Clinical cases show that self-guided method for the cure of stubborn insomnia also has a good effect.
3.Standing pile health care work
From the point of view of Chinese medicine, insomnia is often due to the loss of liver qi, which is not properly regulated and is hyperactive. The liver collects blood, liver qi is too much, blood with the qi reverse, and go up, so that lying down, feeling hot brain, thinking, can not be quiet for a moment, so it is difficult to sleep.
The standing pile health work can improve the drainage function of the liver, so that heat toxicity with the blood down to the heart of the feet, and then by the Chung Quan point to excrete out, in order to achieve the effect of the upper virtual down. The upper deficiency refers to the upper body (above the umbilicus) deficiency, the lower reality refers to the lower body (below the umbilicus) is full, the lower yuan is abundant, only to achieve the upper deficiency and the lower reality, in order to achieve the purpose of peace of mind, the body feels comfortable, so as to improve the sleep of people.
If you had insomnia last night and didn’t sleep all night, you can stand for a quarter or half an hour the next morning according to the above method, you will suddenly have a sense of relief, as if you slept for 8 hours last night, stand for a few days in a row, as long as you can achieve the natural pine and static, the correct method of exercise, even stubborn insomnia can be cured.
There is a boss who is in his early forties and runs a technology company. He suffered from mild neurasthenia when he was in college and was very particular about his sleeping environment. After graduating from college and working for a company for seven or eight years, he started his own company and contracted insomnia due to the stress. He took sleeping pills, but they did not completely solve the problem. I suggested that he could try standing pile health care. The first time he did it, he felt very comfortable for half an hour and looked at it that night. After a week of standing pile, all the symptoms of neurasthenia disappeared.
4.Chinese medicine treatment method
For a very small number of patients, taking health tea may not be effective. According to the diagnosis of traditional Chinese medicine, these very few patients with insomnia are actual evidence. Patients with solid evidence are broadly divided into two categories of cases.
The first category is due to liver stagnation and fire. The symptoms include: sleeplessness, impatience and irritability, lack of food and drink, thirst, red eyes and bitter mouth, yellow urine, constipated stool, red tongue, yellow fur, and string pulse.
Analysis: This evidence is mostly due to irritation and anger injuring the liver, the liver loses its control, the qi becomes fire and disturbs the heart and mind, resulting in sleeplessness. If liver qi offends the stomach, the patient does not think about eating. Liver stagnation turns into fire, liver fire multiplies the stomach, and stomach heat causes thirst and drinking. If the liver fire is vigorous, it is easy to be angry and noisy. Fire and heat disturb the eyes, so the eyes are red and the mouth is bitter, the urine is yellow and red, and the stool is constipated. The tongue is red, the coating is yellow, and the pulse is stringent and counted, all of which are heat signs.
Treatment: Drain heat from the liver and calm the mind.
Remedy: Gentian and liver diarrhea soup with added flavor. In this formula, gentian herb, scutellaria baicalensis and gardenia are used to clear the fire in the liver; zedoary, mucuna pruriens and psyllium are used to clear dampness and heat in the liver; angelica and raw earth nourish blood and liver; chai hu unblocks the qi of liver and gallbladder; licorice harmonizes the middle. Zhu Hu Shen, Dragon Bone, Oyster can be added to calm the heart and tranquilize the mind, such as chest tightness and swelling of the ribs, good big breath, add Yu Jin, fragrant herbs and so on to dredge the liver and open the depression.
The second category is due to internal disturbance of phlegm and heat. The symptoms include: sleeplessness and head heaviness, phlegm and chest tightness, bad food, belching, acid swallowing and nausea, heart trouble and bitterness, dizziness, greasy and yellow coating, and slippery pulse.
Analysis: This symptom is mostly due to stagnation of food, accumulation of dampness and phlegm, heat due to phlegm, and disturbance of phlegm and heat on the heart. The chest is stuffy because of the stagnation of phlegm and dampness in the middle. Clear Yang is clouded, so the head is heavy and the eyes are dizzy. Stagnation of phlegm and food leads to poor circulation and loss of harmony and descent of the stomach, hence the evidence of malodorous eating, belching, or vomiting. The moss is greasy and yellow, and the pulse is slippery, both of which are evidence of phlegm-heat and internal stagnation of food.
Treatment: To resolve phlegm and clear heat, harmonize the middle and calm the mind.
Remedy: Warm gall bladder soup with Huang Lian and Gardenia. The formula uses Radix Panax notoginseng and Chen Pi. Bamboo rhizome, Citrus aurantium to regulate phlegm, and the stomach to lower the rebellious; Huang Lian, gardenia to clear the heart and lower the fire; Poria to calm the mind and tranquilize the spirit. Phlegm-heat heavy and the stool does not pass, available Pores and stones rolling phlegm pills to lower the fire and diarrhea, phlegm and tranquilize the mind.