Insomnia, a common sleep disorder, affects general well-being, hastens the onset of other diseases,\nand impairs work performance. Hypnotic medications are efficacious in the short term but have\nobvious side effects. Acupuncture, often used to treat insomnia in traditional Chinese medicine\n(TCM), is considered to be beneficial in restoring the normal sleep-wake cycle by regulating and\nrestoring the natural flow of qi (energy power). The three main TCM theories for treating insomnia\nby acupuncture are the tranquilization disturbance, zangfu disturbance (disequilibrium of internal\norgans), and imbalance of yin and yang theories. Moxibustion, another treatment for insomnia,\nis usually combined with acupuncture. Acupuncture and moxibustion with tuina (exercise\nmassage), acupuncture with Chinese herbal injection, electroacupuncture, and acupuncture with\nmedication or psychotherapy are other interventions. Some acupuncture-based methods such as\nneedle-rolling acupuncture, auricular acupoint plaster therapy, phlebotomy, and acupoint catgutembedding\ntherapy are used as well. Although most clinical trials have shown that acupuncture\nand its combination therapies are significantly effective in insomnia, the beneficial effects may\nhave been overvalued, because of small sample size, nonstrict inclusion and exclusion criteria,\nflawed methodology, short follow-up, or nonstandardized evaluation. Therefore, clinical studies of\nhigh methodological quality are needed to verify the efficacy of acupuncture, moxibustion, and\nother combination therapies in insomnia.
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