There’s nothing more exasperating than lying in bed, watching the hours tick by until you need to rise, yet feeling completely alert.
In the UK, nearly one in five individuals aren’t getting sufficient sleep, as per Mental Health UK.
Numerous factors can keep you awake at night, from consuming alcohol or caffeine too close to bedtime, to stress and anxiety.
However, given that inadequate sleep and insomnia can impact your physical and mental health, it’s crucial to address it.
Fortunately, a doctor has revealed an amazing trick using acupressure to help you “fall asleep faster tonight”.
Acupressure is a form of massage therapy where manual pressure is applied to specific points on the body. These techniques aim to alleviate pain, relieve muscle tension or boost blood flow.
And apparently, there’s one spot that can aid in falling asleep quicker, reports the Mirror.
Qianlei Li, a board-certified Traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioner and Licensed Acupuncturist, demonstrated the point you need to press in a recent TikTok video. According to the health expert, this can be done on either hand.
The area to press is the ‘web’ between your thumb and index finger. Qianlei advised to ‘find the meaty part’, take the same fingers on the opposite hand, and “pinch down hard” for three to five minutes while you’re in bed.
“Keep your eyes closed. Focus your mind on the point,” she advised. While some TikTok users claimed the method was ineffective, others found it to be a successful sleep aid.
“Omg it worked,” exclaimed one TikTok user. Another chimed in: “As soon as I pressed it I started to yawn. What a fantastic idea.”
A third user praised: “Did this and was snoring in three minutes. You’re amazing. Thanks dear.”
Sleep expert Sammy Margo also suggests other pressure points that can assist with sleep. Writing for Dreams, she recommends the ‘inner frontier gate’, located on the inner wrist, near the pulse point.
Sammy explained: “This pressure point for sleep is really easy to incorporate into your bedtime routine. You’ll find it in the dip between the two tendons in your wrist.
“Gently apply a little pressure to your wrist with your thumb and you’ll notice two obvious tendons. The spot in between these two is the inner frontier gate.”
“As it doesn’t require any uncomfortable manoeuvring to reach, it’s one you can keep applying pressure to until you drift off into a dreamy slumber. Massage this pressure point with a circular motion for a few minutes before sleep.”