Improving Focus Naturally: Acupuncture and Healthy Habits for Students

Acupuncture may help students focus indirectly by reducing stress, supporting sleep, and easing physical symptoms that compete for attention, but healthy daily routines remain the primary foundation for concentration.

Poor focus is not always a motivation problem. A student may be working against insufficient sleep, academic anxiety, headaches, digital interruptions, irregular meals, excessive caffeine, or an attention disorder that has not been recognized. Individualized acupuncture care can be considered as part of a broader wellness plan, particularly when stress, sleep disruption, pain, or physical tension is making it harder to learn. 

Current evidence does not establish acupuncture as a standalone cognitive enhancer. Its most defensible role is complementary support alongside adequate sleep, balanced nutrition, movement, effective study methods, and appropriate medical or psychological care.

Key Takeaways

• Acupuncture may support focus indirectly by addressing stress, sleep disruption, headaches, or physical tension.
• Teenagers generally need 8 to 10 hours of sleep, while most college-age adults need at least 7 hours.
• Regular meals, hydration, physical activity, and controlled caffeine use provide the biological foundation for sustained attention.
• Defined study blocks and a low-distraction environment are often more effective than trying to force longer study sessions.
• Persistent or worsening concentration problems may require evaluation for Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), anxiety, depression, sleep disorders, learning difficulties, or another health condition.

What Focus Really Means for a Student

Focus is the ability to direct attention toward a relevant task while filtering out competing thoughts, sensations, and environmental distractions.

Concentration is only one part of effective learning. Students also depend on working memory to hold information in mind, executive function to organize and prioritize tasks, cognitive flexibility to shift between ideas, and emotional regulation to continue working when a subject becomes frustrating.

A student can therefore appear distracted for several different reasons. One person may have difficulty sustaining attention. Another may understand the material but struggle to begin. A third may be preoccupied by anxiety, fatigue, hunger, pain, or an intrusive stream of notifications.

Treating every form of poor focus as the same problem leads to weak solutions. The first task is to identify what is interfering with attention.

Attention, Concentration, and Working Memory Are Not the Same

Attention selects information, concentration sustains effort, and working memory holds information long enough to use it.

A student reading a textbook must select the relevant words, resist unrelated sounds, remember the beginning of a paragraph, connect it to previous knowledge, and decide whether the material has been understood. If sleep loss, stress, or constant task switching disrupts any step, learning becomes slower.

This explains why increasing study time does not always increase learning. Three distracted hours can produce less retention than one well-structured hour.

Why Motivated Students Still Lose Focus

A student can be motivated and still have conditions that make concentration biologically or psychologically difficult.

Common contributors include:

• Insufficient or inconsistent sleep
• Test anxiety and persistent worry
• Depression or emotional exhaustion
• Headaches, neck tension, or chronic pain
• Skipped meals and irregular eating
• Excessive caffeine or energy-drink use
• Long periods without movement
• Phone notifications and social-media interruptions
• ADHD or another neurodevelopmental condition
• Learning, language, vision, or hearing difficulties
• Medication effects
• Sleep apnea or another sleep disorder

Students often experience several of these factors at once. A teenager may stay awake studying, use caffeine to function the next morning, become more anxious, and then have even greater difficulty sleeping the following night. The result is a self-reinforcing cycle of fatigue and fragmented attention.

Can Acupuncture Help Students Focus?

Acupuncture may support concentration when stress, poor sleep, headaches, pain, or physical tension is interfering with a student’s ability to think clearly.

Acupuncture involves stimulating selected points on the body, most often with thin needles. Modern research suggests that acupuncture can influence sensory signaling and areas involved in pain processing. Its effects also include contextual factors such as expectation, the therapeutic relationship, quiet rest, and the body’s response to a structured treatment experience.

It is less accurate to claim that acupuncture directly increases intelligence, memory capacity, dopamine, norepinephrine, oxygen delivery, or academic performance. Proposed biological mechanisms may help researchers form hypotheses, but a mechanism is not proof that students will study longer, retain more information, or earn higher grades.

The strongest clinical position is more practical: when a student feels less anxious, sleeps more consistently, or experiences fewer headaches, there may be fewer obstacles competing with attention.

The Traditional Chinese Medicine Perspective

Traditional Chinese Medicine evaluates the pattern surrounding poor focus rather than using one identical treatment for every student.

A practitioner may ask about sleep, digestion, appetite, energy, emotional stress, headaches, muscle tension, temperature sensitivity, and other symptoms. Point selection is then individualized according to the student’s overall presentation.

From this perspective, concentration is not treated as an isolated mental function. It is connected to the student’s ability to rest, recover, digest food comfortably, manage emotional pressure, and maintain stable energy throughout the day.

This whole-person assessment can be useful when it leads to practical, measurable goals. It should not replace appropriate testing when symptoms suggest ADHD, a learning disorder, depression, a sleep disorder, or another medical condition.

The Contemporary Physiological Perspective

Acupuncture produces sensory input that may influence nervous-system activity, pain perception, and relaxation, but its precise effects vary by condition and individual.

Claims that acupuncture “balances brain chemicals” or directly increases blood flow to concentration centers should be treated cautiously. Changes observed in laboratory or imaging research do not automatically establish a meaningful improvement in classroom attention.

A student’s experience may still be valuable. Feeling calmer, having less physical discomfort, or sleeping better can improve the conditions under which attention operates. The distinction is important: acupuncture may reduce a barrier to focus without functioning as a direct cognitive stimulant.

Four Ways Acupuncture May Indirectly Support Concentration

1. Reducing Stress That Competes for Attention

Stress weakens concentration by directing mental resources toward perceived threats, worries, and physical tension.

Test anxiety may cause racing thoughts, shallow breathing, stomach discomfort, muscle tightness, sweating, or an urge to avoid studying. Even when the student remains at the desk, part of the brain’s limited working capacity is occupied by worry.

A randomized clinical trial involving university students evaluated ear acupuncture delivered with needles or laser for anxiety. The findings added to a developing evidence base for acupuncture as complementary anxiety support, although the results do not prove that acupuncture improves examination scores or learning outcomes.

For a student whose concentration worsens primarily during periods of stress, reducing physiological and emotional arousal may make studying feel more manageable. Acupuncture should still be combined with strategies such as realistic planning, counseling when appropriate, breathing exercises, and adequate recovery time.

2. Supporting Better Sleep

Sleep supports alertness, memory consolidation, emotional regulation, and the ability to sustain attention during the day.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that students who get adequate sleep are better positioned to stay focused and perform academically. Teenagers generally need 8 to 10 hours of sleep, while adults ages 18 to 60 need at least 7 hours. Approximately 7 in 10 middle and high school students do not get enough sleep on school nights.

A systematic review of 10 trials involving 757 people with chronic insomnia found that acupuncture improved subjective sleep quality and insomnia scores compared with sham acupuncture. However, evidence for objective sleep measures, including total sleep time, remained uncertain.

This distinction matters. A student may feel that sleep is more restorative even when a wearable device or sleep study does not show a significant change in total sleep duration. Acupuncture may be a reasonable complementary option, but persistent insomnia requires professional assessment rather than repeated attempts to manage it through wellness treatments alone.

3. Easing Headaches and Physical Tension

Pain draws attention away from academic tasks even when the student is determined to keep working.

Long periods at a laptop can contribute to neck stiffness, jaw tension, eye strain, and tension-type headaches. A student who repeatedly rereads the same paragraph may be responding to physical discomfort rather than a lack of interest.

Acupuncture has been studied more extensively for pain and certain headache conditions than for healthy cognitive enhancement. It may therefore support studying when relief from discomfort reduces one source of distraction. Some observed benefits may also reflect nonspecific effects, including expectation and the treatment context.

Frequent, severe, or changing headaches should be medically evaluated, particularly when accompanied by fainting, weakness, confusion, fever, vomiting, or vision changes.

4. Creating a Structured Recovery Period

A quiet acupuncture session can function as a deliberate transition from prolonged stimulation into rest.

Many students move directly from class to commuting, social media, studying, and late-night entertainment without a meaningful recovery period. During acupuncture, the student is usually away from assignments and notifications for a defined period.

That protected pause may help the student recognize fatigue or tension that had been ignored. Relaxation alone does not prove a direct cognitive effect, but it can be valuable when incorporated into a more sustainable schedule.

Acupuncture should not become another obligation in an overloaded calendar. The purpose is to support recovery, not add pressure.

What the Research Actually Says

Research supports a cautious, symptom-focused view of acupuncture rather than the claim that it directly increases intelligence or academic performance.

Studies involving acupuncture differ widely in treatment style, point selection, comparison groups, duration, practitioner interaction, and outcome measurement. Acupuncture is also difficult to blind completely because participants may notice differences between real and sham procedures.

These limitations do not mean that every reported benefit is false. They mean the strength and specificity of the conclusions must match the quality of the evidence.

Evidence Related to Student Anxiety

Research involving university students suggests that auricular acupuncture may help reduce anxiety symptoms for some participants. This is relevant because anxiety can interfere with sleep, working memory, task initiation, and examination performance.

However, reduced anxiety should not be presented as proof of improved concentration. Future research needs to measure academic and cognitive outcomes directly rather than assume they improve whenever anxiety decreases.

Evidence Related to Sleep

Recent reviews indicate that acupuncture may improve how people with insomnia rate their sleep. Objective measures remain less certain, and study quality varies.

For students, the practical question is not whether acupuncture produces a particular brain signal. It is whether the student falls asleep more consistently, wakes feeling more restored, depends less on caffeine, and functions better during the day.

Evidence Related to ADHD

Acupuncture is not an established replacement for evidence-based ADHD treatment.

A systematic review reported potentially positive findings for acupuncture used alone or alongside conventional ADHD care. However, the included studies were generally rated as having very low to low methodological quality, most lacked follow-up, and the evidence was not strong enough to recommend acupuncture as a routine alternative or adjunctive treatment.

Clinical guidance for children and adolescents emphasizes formal assessment, behavioral interventions, educational support, and U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved medication when appropriate. Acupuncture should not be used as a reason to stop prescribed medication, counseling, parent training, classroom interventions, an Individualized Education Program, or a 504 plan.

What a Student-Focused Acupuncture Appointment May Include

A responsible acupuncture plan begins by identifying the factors affecting concentration rather than promising to stimulate one universal focus point.

During an initial consultation, the practitioner may ask about:

• Sleep duration and bedtime consistency
• Academic pressure and test anxiety
• Headaches, jaw tension, or neck discomfort
• Eating and hydration patterns
• Caffeine and energy-drink use
• Medications and supplements
• Existing diagnoses
• Emotional health
• Current medical or psychological treatment
• The timing and pattern of concentration problems

This information helps distinguish a student who becomes distracted after sleeping five hours from someone with longstanding attention problems across several settings.

What the Treatment Feels Like

Acupuncture usually uses very thin needles that are placed at selected points and retained while the student rests. Sensations may include mild pressure, heaviness, warmth, tingling, or a dull ache. Sharp or persistent pain should be reported immediately.

When performed by a qualified practitioner using sterile needles, acupuncture is generally considered safe. Minor soreness or bruising can occur. Serious complications are rare but may include infection or injury when acupuncture is performed improperly.

The practitioner should use sterile, single-use needles and explain what will happen before treatment. Parents or guardians should be appropriately involved when the patient is a minor.

How Progress Should Be Measured

“Feeling more balanced” may be meaningful, but it is difficult to evaluate without concrete outcomes. A student can track:

• Average sleep duration
• Bedtime consistency
• Time needed to begin studying
• Number of completed study blocks
• Headache frequency
• Test-anxiety intensity
• Daytime sleepiness
• Caffeine use
• Missed classes
• Ability to complete assignments

Tracking two or three relevant measures is usually more useful than recording every possible symptom. If nothing changes after a reasonable trial, the plan should be reassessed.

Healthy Habits That Build a Stronger Foundation for Focus

Student focus improves most reliably when sleep, nutrition, movement, stress management, and study structure work together.

Acupuncture cannot compensate for repeated all-nighters, skipped meals, uncontrolled notifications, or untreated mental-health and learning concerns. Daily habits create the conditions in which any complementary treatment must operate.

1. Protect Sleep Before Optimizing Productivity

Sleep is a biological requirement for learning, not time taken away from learning.

Teenagers should generally receive 8 to 10 hours of sleep, while adults ages 18 to 60 should receive at least 7 hours. Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) indicate that 30.5 percent of American adults sleep fewer than 7 hours per day.

Practical sleep priorities include:

• Keep wake time reasonably consistent.
• Seek natural light in the morning.
• Avoid studying in bed.
• Create a repeatable wind-down routine.
• Reduce stimulating screen use before bedtime.
• Keep the phone away from the pillow.
• Finish caffeine early enough that it does not delay sleep.
• Avoid shifting the sleep schedule by several hours on weekends.

An all-night study session may create the feeling of extra preparation while weakening attention, mood, and memory the next day. The goal is not simply to spend more time with a textbook. The goal is to support effective learning.

Persistent difficulty falling asleep, frequent waking, loud snoring, gasping, or severe daytime sleepiness should be discussed with a healthcare provider.

2. Build Meals Around Stable Energy

Regular, nutrient-dense meals support steadier energy than a cycle of skipped meals, sugary snacks, and caffeine.

Current federal dietary guidance prioritizes whole, nutritious foods. A practical student meal does not need to be elaborate. It can combine:

• A protein source, such as eggs, fish, poultry, beans, tofu, yogurt, or nuts
• A high-fiber carbohydrate, such as oats, whole-grain bread, brown rice, fruit, or potatoes
• Vegetables or fruit
• A source of healthy fat
• Water or another unsweetened beverage

Foods such as leafy greens, berries, nuts, seeds, eggs, beans, whole grains, and omega-3-rich fish provide nutrients involved in general brain and nervous-system function. They should be described as part of a healthy dietary pattern, not as instant concentration treatments.

Fatigue and poor concentration can also occur with iron deficiency, vitamin B12 deficiency, thyroid problems, and other conditions. Supplements should not be used as a substitute for evaluation when symptoms are persistent.

3. Hydrate Without Depending on Energy Drinks

Caffeine can temporarily increase alertness, but it cannot replace sleep or correct the causes of chronic fatigue.

Too much caffeine may contribute to anxiety, palpitations, digestive discomfort, and disrupted sleep. Medical experts advise against energy drinks for children and teenagers because of their caffeine and sugar content.

A practical approach includes:

• Keep water accessible during class and study periods.
• Check caffeine amounts rather than relying on serving size.
• Avoid combining several caffeinated products.
• Move caffeine earlier in the day.
• Reduce high intake gradually to limit withdrawal headaches.
• Treat increasing caffeine dependence as a sign that sleep or workload needs attention.

A student who needs an energy drink to begin homework and another to stay awake at night is not experiencing an energy-drink deficiency. The underlying schedule needs to change.

4. Use Movement as an Attention Reset

Physical activity supports health, mood, and cognitive functioning while interrupting long periods of sedentary study.

Current guidance recommends at least 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous activity each day for children and adolescents ages 6 through 17. The activity can be accumulated through sports, walking, cycling, active transportation, dancing, or other enjoyable movement.

Movement does not need to become a full workout every time attention fades. Useful resets include:

• A five-minute walk
• Climbing stairs
• Gentle mobility exercises
• Stretching the chest, hips, and upper back
• Going outside between study blocks
• Walking while reviewing flashcards

Students should avoid using exercise as punishment for being unproductive. The purpose is to restore alertness and support health.

5. Study in Defined Attention Blocks

A study timer is useful when it makes work concrete and protects recovery, not when it becomes another rigid rule.

The Pomodoro Technique commonly uses 25 minutes of work followed by a 5-minute break. That pattern is a starting point, not a biological law.

A student working through difficult mathematics may benefit from a 35-minute block. A younger student or someone experiencing significant anxiety may begin with 15 minutes. Deep reading may work better in 45- to 50-minute periods.

Each block should have a visible objective, such as:

• Complete five practice problems.
• Create flashcards for one lecture.
• Outline two paragraphs.
• Review one chapter using active recall.
• Correct yesterday’s mistakes.

During the break, stand up, drink water, look into the distance, or walk briefly. Opening social media often turns a five-minute break into a longer attention disruption.

6. Design the Environment to Reduce Attention Switching

The easiest distraction to resist is the distraction that never becomes visible.

Willpower is unreliable when a phone is lighting up beside the textbook. Environment design reduces the number of decisions the student must make.

Effective options include:

• Put the phone in another room.
• Disable nonessential notifications.
• Use full-screen mode.
• Keep only the required browser tabs open.
• Use website-blocking tools.
• Write distracting thoughts on paper for later.
• Keep the next action visible.
• Use headphones or neutral background sound when appropriate.
• Study beside another focused person when accountability helps.

One practical strategy is the friction audit. Before studying, identify everything that could create an excuse to stop, such as missing water, an uncharged laptop, unclear instructions, or scattered materials. Resolve those obstacles before the timer begins.

7. Use Mindfulness to Notice Wandering Earlier

Mindfulness improves the ability to notice where attention has gone and return it without escalating frustration.

A brief practice can be completed before studying:

1. Place both feet on the floor.
2. Take a slow breath in.
3. Exhale slightly longer than the inhale.
4. Notice physical tension without trying to force it away.
5. Name the next task in one sentence.
6. Begin.

Research on university students suggests that mindfulness-based interventions can reduce stress, anxiety, and other mental-health symptoms. Evidence is stronger for emotional well-being than for guaranteed academic improvement.

The purpose is not to eliminate every thought. The skill is returning to the intended task sooner.

8. Plan Recovery Before Burnout Appears

Recovery works best when it is scheduled before exhaustion makes it unavoidable.

Students often plan classes, assignments, and examinations while leaving meals, sleep, movement, and quiet time to chance. That approach treats the body as an interruption rather than the system that makes learning possible.

Schedule:

• Meal times
• Movement
• Short breaks
• A stopping point for study
• A wind-down period
• At least one low-demand period each day

A sustainable routine may look less intense than a last-minute productivity sprint, but it produces more opportunities for consistent learning.

How to Combine Acupuncture With Healthy Habits

Acupuncture and daily habits work best when treatment supports changes the student can continue between appointments.

Acupuncture should not be treated as permission to neglect sleep or maintain an unsustainable workload. A useful plan identifies the barrier being addressed.

For example:

• A student with test anxiety may track physical anxiety and task avoidance.
• A student with headaches may track headache frequency and uninterrupted study time.
• A student with insomnia may track bedtime, sleep onset, and daytime alertness.
• A student with generalized fatigue may need medical evaluation before assuming acupuncture is the appropriate solution.

During a Regular School Week

Schedule treatment at a time that does not add unnecessary urgency. Continue regular meals, sleep, movement, and study blocks. Track only the outcomes that relate to the treatment goal.

During Examination Periods

Avoid changing the entire routine immediately before an important examination. New supplements, extreme diets, unfamiliar sleep schedules, and excessive caffeine can create more uncertainty.

Prioritize:

• Consistent sleep
• Predictable meals
• Moderate caffeine
• Short, specific review blocks
• Movement between sessions
• Recovery after examinations

After an Appointment

Most students can return to normal activity unless the practitioner gives different instructions. Hydrate normally, eat if hungry, and notice changes without trying to interpret every sensation.

A single relaxing session does not prove long-term effectiveness. Likewise, one session without an obvious change does not fully evaluate a treatment plan. Progress should be judged by trends in the chosen outcomes.

When Poor Focus Requires Professional Evaluation

Persistent concentration problems should not automatically be blamed on laziness, poor discipline, or excessive screen time.

Professional assessment is appropriate when:

• Attention problems occur across several settings.
• Symptoms have persisted for months.
• Academic performance has declined significantly.
• The student cannot complete ordinary responsibilities.
• Anxiety or low mood is severe.
• Sleep problems are persistent.
• The student snores loudly or stops breathing during sleep.
• Headaches are frequent or worsening.
• Symptoms began suddenly.
• There are episodes of fainting, confusion, weakness, or vision change.
• A medication or substance may be affecting cognition.
• ADHD or a learning disorder is suspected.

Why ADHD Requires a Formal Evaluation

ADHD is a neurodevelopmental condition involving persistent patterns of inattention, hyperactivity, impulsivity, or a combination of these symptoms. Occasional distraction is normal. With ADHD, symptoms are persistent, impair functioning, and occur in more than one setting.

There is no single test that diagnoses ADHD. Anxiety, depression, insufficient sleep, learning disabilities, and other conditions can produce similar symptoms. A proper assessment may include information from the student, family, school staff, and healthcare professionals.

Acupuncture may be discussed as complementary care for associated stress, tension, or sleep concerns. It should not delay evaluation or replace evidence-based treatment.

How to Choose an Acupuncturist for a Student

A qualified acupuncturist should provide clear safety information, realistic expectations, and measurable treatment goals.

Before scheduling, ask:

• Is the practitioner licensed in the state where treatment is provided?
• Does the practitioner have experience working with teenagers or college students?
• Are sterile, single-use needles used?
• How will progress be measured?
• What minor side effects may occur?
• When would the practitioner recommend medical or mental-health evaluation?
• Is the practitioner willing to coordinate with the student’s existing healthcare team?

Avoid anyone who guarantees higher grades, claims to cure ADHD, advises stopping prescribed medication, or presents one acupuncture point as a universal solution for concentration.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can Acupuncture Increase Focus?

Acupuncture may support focus indirectly when stress, poor sleep, headaches, pain, or muscle tension is interfering with concentration. Some small studies have examined acupuncture and cognitive performance, but current evidence does not establish it as a direct cognitive enhancer. It should complement, rather than replace, sleep, nutrition, movement, effective study methods, and appropriate medical care.

What Are Some Natural Ways to Improve Concentration and Focus?

Natural ways to improve concentration include getting adequate sleep, eating regular nutrient-dense meals, staying hydrated, exercising regularly, managing stress, and studying in clearly defined time blocks. Students can also reduce attention switching by silencing notifications, keeping phones outside the study area, completing one task at a time, and using short movement breaks. Adequate sleep and physical activity are particularly important for classroom attention and academic functioning.

Can Too Much Acupuncture Be Harmful?

Receiving acupuncture more frequently than necessary may lead to increased soreness, bruising, minor bleeding, fatigue, or discomfort without providing additional benefit. More serious complications, including infection or injury to an organ, are rare but can occur when acupuncture is performed incorrectly or with nonsterile equipment. Treatment frequency should be based on the student’s health, symptoms, response, and a qualified practitioner’s clinical judgment.

Is Acupuncture Safe for Students and Teenagers?

Acupuncture is generally considered safe for students and teenagers when it is performed by an appropriately licensed or qualified practitioner using sterile, single-use needles. The practitioner should review the student’s medical history, medications, bleeding risks, and comfort level before treatment. Parents or guardians should be involved as required when the student is a minor.

How Many Acupuncture Sessions Are Needed to Support Focus?

There is no standard number of acupuncture sessions required for concentration concerns. The treatment schedule depends on the underlying issue, such as stress, disrupted sleep, headaches, or muscle tension, as well as the student’s response. Progress should be measured using specific outcomes, such as sleep consistency, headache frequency, anxiety levels, or the ability to complete study blocks, and the plan should be reassessed if meaningful improvement does not occur.

Can Acupuncture Help Students With ADHD?

Acupuncture is not an established treatment or replacement for evidence-based ADHD care. Reviews have reported potentially positive findings, but the available studies are inconsistent and generally provide low-quality evidence. Students with suspected ADHD should receive a formal evaluation and should not discontinue medication, behavioral therapy, educational accommodations, or other prescribed care in favor of acupuncture.

Building Focus Without Sacrificing Well-Being

Sustainable focus comes from reducing barriers to attention, not forcing the brain to perform indefinitely without rest.

Acupuncture may be useful when stress, disrupted sleep, headaches, or physical tension is part of the problem. Its role should remain realistic and complementary. Sleep, nutritious meals, movement, distraction control, effective study methods, and appropriate clinical care create the foundation that supports long-term academic performance.

At ACA Acupuncture & Wellness, we provide individualized acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine services designed around each patient’s symptoms, health history, and wellness goals. Students and families can schedule a consultation to explore whether acupuncture may fit into a broader, responsible plan for stress management, sleep support, physical comfort, and overall well-being.

Sources:

Lemos, A. P. da S., Lourenço, B. G., Chaves, É. de C. L., & Moura, C. de C. (2024). Ear acupuncture with laser and needles in the treatment of anxiety in university students: A randomized clinical trial. Revista da Escola de Enfermagem da USP, 58, e20240239.

Yu, Y., Li, X., Zhu, Z., Wang, Y., Xi, Q., Qiu, J., Xu, Y., Liang, R., Guo, Y., & Zhang, M. (2025). Acupuncture for chronic insomnia disorder: A systematic review with meta-analysis and trial sequential analysis. Frontiers in Neurology, 16, 1541276.

Zhao, F.-Y., Xu, Y., Kennedy, G. A., Conduit, R., Zhang, W.-J., Jiang, T., Xu, P., Ho, Y.-S., Fu, Q.-Q., & Chow, C.-M. (2025). Is integrating acupuncture into the management of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder among children and adolescents now opportune and evidence-based? A systematic review with meta-analysis and trial sequential analysis. Complementary Therapies in Medicine, 90, 103163.