Is it better to seek traditional Chinese medicine or Western medicine for insomnia

The choice between traditional Chinese medicine or Western medicine for insomnia depends on specific symptoms and physical condition. Traditional Chinese medicine is suitable for patients with chronic insomnia and physical conditioning needs, while Western medicine is suitable for patients with acute insomnia and organic diseases.

Traditional Chinese Medicine mainly treats insomnia through holistic differentiation and individualized plans based on patients' physical differences. Common methods include traditional Chinese medicine decoction such as Suanzaoren Decoction, Ganmai Dazao Decoction, and acupuncture and moxibustion to select Baihui point, Shenmen point and other points. Traditional Chinese medicine emphasizes regulating the balance of qi, blood, yin and yang, and has significant effects on syndromes such as heart and spleen deficiency, liver depression and fire transformation. However, the effect is relatively slow and requires long-term persistence. Food conditioning can be matched with Tonic Diet such as lily lotus seed Congee, poria cocos millet porridge, and other health preserving exercises such as Baduanjin.

Western medicine mainly uses medication intervention and cognitive-behavioral therapy to treat insomnia, with commonly used benzodiazepine drugs such as escitalopram tablets and non benzodiazepine drugs such as dexmedetomidine tablets. Mirtazapine tablets can be used for insomnia associated with depression, while patients with sleep disordered breathing require continuous positive pressure ventilation treatment. Western medicine methods are effective quickly but may have dependence, and strict adherence to medical advice is necessary to control the course of treatment. Multi channel sleep monitoring can accurately evaluate abnormal sleep structures and is suitable for screening the causes of refractory insomnia.

It is recommended to prioritize Western medicine to control symptoms for short-term severe insomnia, and to treat long-term recurrent insomnia with a combination of traditional Chinese and Western medicine. Maintain a fixed daily routine, keep the bedroom environment dark and quiet, and avoid caffeine intake in the afternoon. Two hours before bedtime, you can engage in relaxing activities such as soaking your feet in warm water and listening to light music to avoid vigorous exercise and excessive thinking. If insomnia persists for more than a month or is accompanied by emotional disorders, it is necessary to seek medical attention and evaluation from a sleep specialist in a timely manner.