[GAO Yuchun's experience in the treatment of insomnia]

Professor GAO Yuchun's experience is introduced in insomnia treated with the acupuncture technique for regulating the governor vessel and calming down the mind. GAO's acupuncture technique is in one of the series of character techniques in the acupuncture academic school in the region of Hebei province. Professor GAO believes that insomnia resultes from the disharmony of the nutrient and the defensive and the dysfunction of spleen and stomach. The acupoints are selected on the basis of regulating the governor vessel, calming down the mind, nou-rishing the water and the wood to harmonize the mind, strengthening the spleen and stomach to calm down the mind, in which the acupoints of the governor vessel and the yuan-primary points are used in combination. For regulating the governor vessel, Baihui (GV 20) and Shenting (GV 24) are used, combined with Zhongwan (CV 12) for regulating the nutrient and the defensive and calming down the mind. The yuan-primary points of the heart, liver and kidney meridians are selected to nourish water and wood and harmonize the mind. Tianshu (ST 25), Zhongwan (CV 12) and Yinlingquan (SP 9) are used to strengthen the spleen and stomach and for the treatment of the root cause of disease. Additionally, the sequence of needling, the needling techniques for reinforcing and reducing, as well as needle withdrawing are considered. The idea of regulating the governor vessel and calming down the mind as well as the needling techniques for insomnia are considerably introduced in the paper.