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Ever since my days as a heptathlete, I’ve been a firm believer in acupuncture. When your body is central to your work, you tend to become pragmatic about what earns a place in your routine, and acupuncture regularly did. From muscle tightness to tendinopathy, I saw how it could relieve tension in the short term and support recovery over time.
These days, regular physio sessions aren’t part of my life. I’m no longer managing training loads or competition schedules, but I am dealing with something familiar to most of us: chronic stress, persistent lower back tension and disrupted sleep, courtesy of long hours, constant notifications and lives lived largely online.
Over the past year, I’ve noticed acupuncture, and particularly its needle-free cousin, acupressure, gaining renewed attention across wellness circles. And whilst I’m generally wary of anything that trends too enthusiastically on social media, my past experience meant this didn’t strike me as a passing fad. Acupressure has the same theoretical foundations as acupuncture, just without the needles, which makes it both more accessible and, potentially, easier to integrate into everyday life.
The undeniable sticking point, of course, is cost. As with most wellness treatments, regular acupressure can become expensive, and in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis, it’s not realistic for everyone. So I wanted to know what could actually be achieved at home.
My Dad (a man who has never knowingly participated in a wellness trend) has used an acupressure mat for years to help with sleep and stress, so that was an obvious starting point. I was also curious about ear seeding, a form of auricular therapy based on the idea that the body is mapped onto specific points on the ear.
So, with guidance from some of the UK’s leading acupressure practitioners, I committed to an at-home acupressure routine for just over a month, focusing on sleep, stress, focus, digestion and tension.
Curious to hear how I got on? Keep scrolling. And if you’re looking to invest in your own acupressure routine, our editors have tested and compared the very best acupressure mats out there, so you don’t have to. You can also dive deeper into the benefits of ear seeding, with our beauty editor’s tried and tested review. And for an in-depth review of acupuncture, check out Health Editor Ally Head’s honest take when she tried it to tackle bloating and tension headaches.
I Committed to At-Home Acupressure for a Month – My Thoughts
What is acupressure?
First things first: acupressure is an alternative therapy rooted in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). It’s often confused with acupuncture, but while the two practices are closely related, they’re not the same. Both follow the same principles and energetic pathways, known as meridians, which TCM practitioners believe flow throughout the body, but the way they’re applied differs.
“Acupressure is a hands-on therapeutic modality that uses gentle pressure, touch or small circular movements to stimulate the flow of vital energy throughout the body,” says Marie Reynolds, holistic wellness and skin expert. But, she explains, “unlike acupuncture, acupressure does not puncture the skin using needles,” making it a “non-invasive and accessible practice.”
Instead, acupressure involves using your fingers, thumbs or small tools to apply pressure to specific points across the body. These 361 points, says Ada Ooi, integrative Chinese medicine clinician and founder of 001 London, sit along fourteen interconnected energetic pathways that link our internal organ systems with our limbs, skin and senses. “From a modern clinical perspective, acupressure works through neurological and fascial pathways, helping to regulate the nervous system, reduce stress responses, and improve communication between the brain and body,” she explains.
Ultimately, the aim is to help “people reconnect with their own qi” – the body’s vital life force – “and to understand what balance, excess, deficiency, or stagnation feels like from the inside,” says Cassie Adams, body and cosmetic facial acupuncturist.
What are the benefits of acupressure?
Research into acupressure is still relatively limited, but it has been most commonly studied and used clinically, to manage insomnia, stress, headaches, muscle tension, menstrual cramps and nausea, including during pregnancy and chemotherapy, with a number of clinical trials suggesting it may help reduce pain, ease nausea and support sleep when used consistently and alongside conventional care.
But rather than thinking of acupressure as a treatment for one isolated symptom, Ooi recommends approaching it as a way to regulate the nervous system as a whole. “Applying pressure to specific points activates mechanoreceptors in the skin and connective tissue, which sends signals through peripheral nerves to the central nervous system,” she explains. This signalling downregulates the sympathetic nervous system – responsible for our fight-or-flight response – and increases activity in the parasympathetic nervous system, our rest-and-digest state. That’s why we see “improvements in heart rate variability, decreases in muscle tension and regulation of stress hormone output,” she says.
This nervous system effect is backed up by research, which suggests that acupressure can influence vagal tone – how quickly your body can switch out of stress and into rest – which helps explain why people report feeling calmer and sleeping better when they practice it regularly.
It also helps explain why people often notice knock-on benefits like improved digestion and mental clarity. “Improved digestion is linked to enhanced vagal nerve activity, which supports gastric motility and secretion,” says Ooi. “Improvements in mental clarity are often secondary effects of better sleep, reduced stress, and improved cerebral blood flow.”
When it comes to hormones, the effects are similarly indirect and often misunderstood. “Acupressure does not act directly on endocrine glands or hormone production,” Ooi explains. “Instead, it supports the upstream systems such as stress regulation, sleep-wake cycles and digestive efficiency, all of which hormonal signalling depends on. By stabilising these foundational processes, the body is better able to maintain hormonal balance naturally.”
If this sounds abstract, Adams offers a simpler way of looking at it. “At its core, acupressure is a conversation with the body. It’s about cultivating awareness of qi (energy), guiding its movement and restoring balance between yin and yang, inside and outside, body and spirit.”
She also notes that for anyone curious about alternative therapies but wary of needles, acupressure can be a gentler entry point. “Past medical experiences can stop people from ever exploring acupuncture, and for them, acupressure provides an alternative that they can do themselves. It’s ideal for children, or for anyone who is depleted or sensitive.”
Is self acupressure actually effective?
All three experts agree that self-acupressure can be genuinely effective, particularly when it comes to maintaining general wellbeing and supporting the body through everyday stress. That said, if you’re turning to it to help manage a specific concern such as chronic anxiety, nausea or hormonal imbalance, working with a trained practitioner can help you to tailor point selection and techniques to your individual needs.
“Self-acupressure allows people to engage with their bodies daily in a practical and empowering way, particularly when it comes to stress regulation, sleep support, digestion, and mild pain,” says Ooi. However, “a practitioner becomes important when symptoms are chronic, complex, or linked to fertility, hormonal concerns, or trauma. In those cases, precision, diagnosis, and a personalised approach significantly improve outcomes.”
As with most nervous-system-based practices, consistency matters more than force. “Rather than pressing hard, use gentle circular movements combined with slow breathing,” Reynolds advises. “The key is to be fully present and attentive to what you notice as you practice.”
Are there any risks to acupressure?
One of the main appeals of acupressure is that it’s relatively low-risk and low-cost. That said, it isn’t completely without parameters, and knowing how to practice it safely matters.
“If you are energetically deficient, you may feel more tired after acupressure,” explains Reynolds. This can happen because repeatedly stimulating certain points may disperse already depleted energy throughout the body, which is why she says, “less is often more.”
Ooi agrees, emphasising that acupressure should always be collaborative rather than forceful. “As with any body-based practice, the intention is to work with the body rather than force change. With something like ear seeds, irritation or discomfort is a sign they should be removed, while during pregnancy, certain points should be avoided.” For this reason, if you’re pregnant, it’s important to consult an acupuncturist before trying any at-home acupressure techniques.
For the rest of us, Adams suggests keeping a few practical considerations in mind:
- Being too heavy-handed can cause soreness or bruising, especially if you bruise easily
- Some people may feel lightheaded or dizzy afterwards
- Always work within your comfort zone; pressure should be firm but never forced.
I built an at-home acupressure routine for a month – and saw huge changes to my sleep, stress and muscle tension
Weeks one and two
I went into my month-long acupressure trial with the aim of better sleep, a calmer nervous system and improved focus. The routine itself had four strands. Daily self-acupressure using my fingers on specific points; twenty minutes on an acupressure mat (mostly at night); ear seeds applied to targeted points; and herbal acupressure patches designed to promote rest, focus and nervous system regulation.
At the time, I was stuck in a familiar freelancer loop: late-night bursts of productivity which led to scrolling, followed by fractured sleep, groggy mornings and an increasing lack of focus during the day. So the first priority was winding my evenings down properly.
Night one on the acupressure mat was confronting, to say the least. It’s a spiky, torso-length mat and lowering yourself onto it is easily the worst part. But once you settle, the initial discomfort gives way to a prickling sensation that’s actually very soothing. A tip, however. Wear light clothing only, because whilst you’ll be tempted to soften the spikiness with a jumper, in my experience, this blunts the effect.
That first night, wrapped in a duvet on the floor, I felt so deeply relaxed that I actually fell asleep on the mat, before moving straight to bed and sleeping through without waking once. For someone used to restless nights and multiple bathroom trips, it felt genuinely miraculous.
An unexpected bonus was my lower back. I’d been dealing with sciatic pain on my left side for months, particularly noticeable in bed. After a few nights on the mat, it eased significantly. It wasn’t a one-night fix, of course, but the more consistent I was, the less often it flared up.
Buoyed by my early wins, I added ear seeds into the mix. I used a crystal set from Yogi Bare, which comes with a guide to auricular therapy – a Traditional Chinese Medicine practice mapping the body onto the ear. As practitioner Cassie Adams explained to me, the ear is also the only part of the body with direct access to the vagus nerve, which partly explains its calming potential.
Ashleigh’s at-home acupressure set up
(Image credit: Ashleigh Spiliopoulou)
I focused on points linked to stress, focus and digestion (the gut–brain connection doing much of the heavy lifting here). Applying them was easy – they come with a small tweezer-like tool and a clear adhesive outer edge, which you press for around 30 seconds per point to activate the seed. Whether placebo or physiology, I felt noticeably calmer that day, and unusually productive. You’re meant to press the studs a few times daily, and even that act became a grounding pause when my attention started to drift.
Weeks three and four
By week three, the routine had become second nature. My twenty minutes on the acupressure mat was a daily non-negotiable, and my sleep felt genuinely transformed. More than the physical release, the mat became a behavioural cue to put my phone outside the bedroom and turn the big lights off; breaking my scroll cycle once and for all.
I also began using herbal acupressure patches from 001 London alongside my nightly routine. Applied to points supporting sleep, brow tension and mental clarity, they’re gently massaged to release calming herbal aromas. On practitioner advice, I paired this with slow, deep breathing, which made the ritual feel more intentional. At night, I left the patches on while I slept; during the day, I occasionally used one on the ‘Hall of Impressions’ (the third-eye point), said to support mental clarity, when my focus felt elusive.
Ashleigh wearing her facial acupressure patches from 001 London
(Image credit: Ashleigh Spiliopoulou)
Initially, combining patches with the mat left me feeling groggier in the mornings – something I’d been warned might happen if you’re energetically depleted. But after a couple of weeks, that heaviness eased, replaced by steadier energy, clearer thinking and far less eye fatigue.
I didn’t wear ear seeds constantly, but used them three to four days a week.
A month in, acupressure has genuinely shifted my sleep, eased my lower-back tension and helped quieten my mind. My anxiety hasn’t disappeared, and my digestion still has its moments, but both feel more manageable. I’m still not entirely sure how much of this comes down to stimulating acupoints versus committing to slower, phone-free rituals, but honestly, I don’t mind. However you frame it, I feel calmer, clearer and better rested than I have in months, and that’s not something I’m keen to give up. Even if it means squeezing a very spiky mat into my suitcase.
Shop MC-UK approved acupressure tools now:
Pro 11 Wellbeing Acupressure mat and pillow set
Our editors’ pick of the best acupressure mats on the market, this is a great budget-friendly, entry-level mat. It takes up very little space and comes with a detachable cushion for head support and additional acupressure benefits.
I’ve been really pleasantly surprised by these ear studs from Yogi Bare. The accompanying application tool and auriculotherapy guide make it easy to get started, and I had no issues with any of my studs falling out over the three days they were applied. Plus, with gold, pearl or crystal studs to choose from, they look just like any other earring.
Harley Street integrative skincare and wellness clinic, 001 London, has been on my radar for some time – I’ve been using their cleansers and moisturisers on my skin for the last year with marked improvements. So, I had high hopes for their acu-patch, which did not disappoint. Infused with adaptogens, they’re vegan, cruelty-free and made in the UK. And with sixty patches per box, they’ll last you for three to four weeks, depending on how many you apply.
What’s the difference between acupressure and acupuncture?
Acupuncture and acupressure are closely related practices that follow the same principles, energetic points and pathways. The main difference lies in how those points are stimulated.
“Acupuncture uses fine needles to access tissue layers directly, allowing for precise and sustained stimulation,” explains Ada Ooi, integrative Chinese medicine clinician and founder of 001 London. By contrast, “acupressure applies pressure externally using the hands or tools, working through the skin and connective tissue.”
Because needles can reach specific depths and angles, “acupuncture offers greater control over depth, angle, and duration of stimulation, which can be useful in clinical settings,” Ooi says. Acupressure, meanwhile, “influences the same regulatory pathways through mechanical pressure and sensory input,” which makes it “non-invasive, repeatable, and well-suited to ongoing or daily use.”
One isn’t inherently better than the other. They’re simply applied differently, and in many cases, work best in combination.
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