Insomnia

According to a meta-analysis published in 2023 (Frontiers in Pharmacology), a herbal medicine (Sanjain-tang) that stabilizes the mind to aid sleep was found to shorten sleep latency by an average of 18 minutes and improve sleep efficiency by 7%. A herbal medicine (Gwipi-tang) that nourishes both the mind and the spleen and stomach significantly lowered Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) scores in patients with heart-spleen-yang deficiency type insomnia. There are also reports that combining this with cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT-I) results in a lower recurrence rate than medication alone. At Dongjedang Korean Medicine Clinic, based on differential diagnosis, we use herbal medicines that nourish both the mind and spleen and stomach, or those that stabilize the mind to aid sleep, as the foundation; however, we modify the regimen according to the patient's constitution and accompanying symptoms (indigestion, palpitations, tinnitus). Acupuncture treatment is performed 2 to 3 times a week, focusing on key acupoints in the wrist (HT7), inner ankle (SP6), and inner wrist (PC6); typically, improvements in sleep onset time and the frequency of mid-sleep awakenings appear starting from the 4th week.