DISCUSSION
Insomnia is one of the common diseases clinically. Although it is not a critical disease, it can aggravate or induce vertigo, headache, stroke and other diseases. Many doctors have different emphases and points of view on the pathogenesis of insomnia, but most of them believe that the pathological change is yin-yang disharmony[13]. It was said in Língshū (《灵 枢》, The Miraculous Pivot) that “ wei qi cannot enter into yin, so people cannot close their eyes to sleep.” Therefore, when pathogenic factors force wei qi to remain in yang at night, people may be still in a state of excitement with exuberance of yang with decline of yin, so they suffer from insomnia.
Mental workers have more mental work with less limb activity during the daytime, and the excitement may stay in the mind until the night, so insomnia is easily induced. Manual workers have more limb activities with the excitement dispersing in the limbs, so they can sleep naturally at night. In this study, acupoints were selected around the wrist and ankle, and sliding-cupping was carried out on the back, which can transfer the excitement from the brain to the limbs, chest and back, thus alleviating the symptoms of insomnia.