Insomnia is the perception or complaint of inadequate or poor quality of sleep because of difficulty in falling asleep, difficulty in maintaining sleep or waking too early in the morning. Chronic Insomnia can lead to severe fatigue, anxiety, depression and lack of concentration.
Insomnia is occasionally a symptom of an underlying medical or psychological condition but it may be caused by stress or life style changes. About half of Insomnia cases have no identifiable cause.
Some conditions or situations that commonly lead to Insomnia include-
- Substance abuse; such as smoking, excessive consumption of caffeine, alcohol and recreational drugs
- Disruption of circadian rhythms; such as shift work, change in work schedule
- Uncomfortable and unusual sleeping environment
- Psychiatric and neurological conditions; such as depression, manic depressive
disorder, restless leg syndrome (RLS), post traumatic stress disorders. - Biological factors – Due to advancement in age, the internal biological ‘clock’ that regulate sleep creeps slightly forward, compelling most senior citizens sleep earlier and wake up early.Reuction of physical and social activities and degenerative changes in all aspects of health may cause insomnia in advance age.
- Sleep disordered breathing
- Chronic illness – such as congestive heart failure, chronic obstructive
pulmonary disease, heart burn, prostatic problems, menopause, diabetes, arthritis and hyperthyroidism - Use of certain medicins – long term use of decongestants, bronchodilators, beta blockers and sleep producing medication
- Excessive computer work or watching Telivision.
The treatments avalable in AM Ayurveda are:
i. Virechana (Purgation)
ii. Abhyanga (body massage), Padabhyanga (foot massage),shiroabhyanga (head massage) with medicated oils.
iii.shiirodhara with medicated liquids (milk/ water/ oils) daily 45-90 minutes for 21 days
iv. Pichu
v. Takra dhara daily 45 minutes for 14 days.
