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Deannie Janowitz
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Deannie is a California Board certified Licensed Acupuncturist and an NCCAOM Diplomate in Oriental Medicine and Chinese Herbology. She holds a Masters degree in Oriental Medicine and has completed advanced training in Beijing, China and Seoul, Korea.
Deannie believes in integrating acupuncture, Chinese herbal medicine, nutrition and lifestyle modifications to heal, prevent illness, and create a state of optimal health. Her practice in Torrance, CA, focuses on all aspects of women's health including enhancing fertility; lifestyle related conditions including anxiety, digestive system problems, insomnia, and headaches; and pain relief including back pain, joint pain, and sports injuries. In addition, she is currently co-authoring the first book in English on SaAm Acupuncture-Korean Four Needle Technique with a renowned master of this method.
Deannie welcomes any questions regarding the use of Oriental Medicine to promote a natural, drug-free sleep and can be reached through her website.
www.radianthealthacupuncture.com.
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Oriental natural medicine: harmonize yourself to sleep |
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Oriental medicine is the oldest, continuously used system of medicine in the world. It offers unique benefits in the treatment of insomnia, one of the most common problems in today’s society. Originating over 3,000 years ago, Oriental medicine is all natural and free of drugs, hormones and steroids. The main modalities of Oriental medicine include acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine (herbology) which is comprised of primarily plant-based substances, many of which are still used daily in Oriental cuisine.
Conventional therapy can yield unwanted side effects
Oriental medicine considers sleep to be a natural and very important part of each day’s bodily function. Sleep disturbances can stem from a wide variety of factors acting alone or in combination including: pain, hormonal imbalances, digestive problems, cardiovascular disorders, anxiety, stress and depression, or the side effects of over-the-counter or prescription medication.
At a minimum, insomnia may result in daytime problems of fatigue, lack of energy, irritability and difficulty concentrating. More seriously, long-term insomnia can have a negative impact on the immune system and may contribute to the further development of disease states.
Conventional medicine often uses prescription drug therapy in a “one size fits all” approach to manage insomnia often with unwanted side effects including: drug tolerance or dependence, withdrawal symptoms, potential negative interactions with other prescription medications, and rebound insomnia. In addition, sleep medications may mask an underlying medical or mental condition that may be a primary cause of the sleep disturbance.
Homeostasis and harmony
In contrast, the fundamental philosophy of Oriental medicine is to treat the person as an integrated whole in body, mind and spirit by addressing both the symptoms and the underlying root cause of the problem. Based on the ancient Chinese belief that human beings are a microcosm of nature and subject to the same natural laws as their surrounding environment, Oriental medicine identifies patterns of disharmony and applies a customized treatment plan to allow the body to regain its natural state of “homeostasis” or balance.
In Oriental medicine each of the major internal organs have very distinct physiological and emotional functions associated with them. By identifying which organs from the Oriental medicine viewpoint have developed "imbalances", an acupuncture and Chinese herbology treatment plan can be created and customized to address the patient’s unique combination of symptoms and patterns of disharmony.
Once the root cause is resolved, insomnia can be relieved naturally and results are often more successful and longer lasting than with conventional methods. By stimulating the body to function optimally and naturally, there is almost no risk of the side effects that are so prevalent with conventional prescription drug therapy.
12 root causes of insomnia
Oriental medicine identifies 12 root causes that manifest with symptoms of sleeplessness or insomnia. Depending on the severity of the symptoms there may be one or more organs out of balance and several co-existing patterns of disharmony. Examples of patterns and their main symptoms include:
1. Heart-blood Deficiency: insomnia with difficulty falling asleep, dream-disturbed sleep, anxiety, poor memory, palpitations, dull-pale complexion.
2. Deficiency of Qi and Blood of the Spleen and Heart: insomnia, dream-disturbed sleep, anxiety, palpitations, dizziness, loose stools, abdominal distention, poor appetite.
3. Heart-Yin Deficiency: insomnia, dream-disturbed sleep, anxiety, mental restlessness, feeling “hot and bothered”, poor memory, night sweating, dry throat.
4. Liver-Blood Deficiency: insomnia with difficulty falling asleep, dizziness, blurred vision, numbness/tingling of the limbs.
5. Liver-Yin Deficiency: insomnia with difficulty falling asleep, dizziness, dreaming, numbness/tingling of the limbs, dry eyes, withered and brittle nails, dry skin and hair, night sweating.
6. Heart and Kidney Yin Deficiency: insomnia with difficulty falling asleep, dream-disturbed sleep, anxiety, poor memory, palpitations, tinnitus, lower back ache, night sweating, scanty dark urine, dizziness.
7. Heart and Kidney Yin Deficiency with Heart Empty Heat: insomnia with frequent waking during the night, dream-disturbed sleep, mental restlessness, anxiety, poor memory, a feeling of heat in the evening, night sweating, dry stools, scanty dark urine, lower backache, hardness of hearing.
8. Liver-Fire: insomnia, excessive dreaming, restless sleep, headache, red face, dizziness, tinnitus, irritability, thirst, constipation and scanty dark urine, bitter taste.
For example: if someone with insomnia complains of always feeling very warm, irritable and excessively sweaty, they are considered to have an imbalance with too much heat inside the body. Herbal medicine treatment will typically consist of: cooling herbs to restore the optimal feeling of temperature in the patient; calming herbs to relieve irritability and anxiety; and other herbs to relieve symptoms of pain, digestive system discomfort, fatigue, etc. in addition to acupuncture points with similar functions.
9. Phlegm-Fire Harassing the Heart: restless sleep or insomnia, dream-disturbed sleep, a feeling of agitation, mental confusion, palpitations, red face, a feeling of oppression of the chest, expectoration of phlegm.
10. Heart-Fire: restless sleep, dream-disturbed sleep, mental restlessness, a feeling of agitation, palpitations, mouth and tongue ulcers, red face, dark urine or blood in the urine bitter taste.
11. Gall-Bladder Deficiency: a tendency to be easily awakened at night with difficulty returning to sleep, waking up early in the morning, restless sleep, depression, timidity, indecision, dizziness, nervousness.
12. Residual Heat in the Diaphragm: restless sleep, preference for sleeping propped up, inability to fall asleep, mental restlessness, a feeling of oppression of the diaphragm, dry throat, epigastric discomfort.
Once the dominant pattern of disharmony has been determined, an Oriental medicine practitioner will select a combination of appropriate acupuncture [link to article #2 on acupuncture] points in addition to one of hundreds of classical Chinese medicinal formulas that have been used safely and effectively for over 3,000 years. As the patient’s condition improves, updated or modified acupuncture point combinations and herbal formulas will be prescribed until both the symptoms and the root cause have been completely resolved and balance has been restored. The patient should then naturally enjoy a restful, restorative, full night’s sleep.
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