full ROUTINE STRUCTURE
5-Minute Bedtime Calm
A longer wind-down using gentle Yintang contact, bilateral HT7 pressure, and a final screen-down pause.
Guided self-care with safety and location checks before the timer.
5 min2 points
Protocol note
The exact PointWell sequence, timing, and single-session format have not been directly tested as a complete clinical protocol.
Exact protocol: not validated. 300 seconds; learning, safety and check-in are outside the timer.
- Settle - 15 seconds
Get comfortable and let the pace of your evening slow down. Keep your breathing natural.
- Continuous pressure - 60 seconds midline
Rest one fingertip at Yintang, midway between the inner ends of your eyebrows. Use light, gentle small circles. You do not need deep pressure or a strong sensation.
- Intermittent pressure - 90 seconds left
At left HT7, press comfortably for five seconds, soften for one second, and continue at an easy rhythm.
- Transition - 15 seconds
Release fully and change to your right wrist.
- Intermittent pressure - 90 seconds right
Repeat the same gentle rhythm on the right side. Keep the pressure comfortable.
- Bedtime release - 30 seconds
Let your hands rest, lower the light if you can, and leave the screen down as you transition toward sleep.
Before you begin
PointWell offers general self-care and educational guidance and is not a substitute for diagnosis, treatment, or emergency medical care.
Ordinary bedtime wind-down, not sleep-disorder treatment.
If sleep problems are frequent, persistent, or affecting daytime functioning, consider professional evaluation.
Talk with a healthcare professional if you regularly snore loudly, stop breathing during sleep, wake up gasping, or have marked daytime sleepiness.
Use steady, comfortable pressure beside the tendon on the wrist crease. Ease off for sharp pain, increasing tingling, numbness, or unpleasant sensation.
Use light, comfortable fingertip contact. Do not press deeply or try to create a strong sensation.
Traditional Use
HT7 (Shenmen) has long been used in East Asian medicine in connection with sleep, emotional settling, and nighttime rest. Yintang is traditionally used in calming and head-related contexts. Traditional use is not proof of modern sleep efficacy.
Modern Evidence
Manual HT7 acupressure has direct randomized-trial evidence in a specific insomnia population, but the intervention was repeated over weeks rather than delivered as a single short bedtime session. Broader sleep studies often use multiple points or special populations. Auricular Shenmen must not be confused with wrist HT7.
Evidence Labels
Supportive direct manual evidence with population/time-course limits
Limited / indirect for sleep
Insufficient
CBT-I remains best-supported for chronic insomnia
Protocol Note
The exact PointWell sequence, timing, and single-session format have not been directly tested as a complete clinical protocol.
HT7 has direct manual sleep research with repeated-use limitations. Yintang evidence is mainly multi-point or combination-based. Studies using auricular Shenmen do not validate wrist HT7.
If sleep trouble keeps returning
For chronic insomnia, cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) is the most strongly recommended treatment. A short acupressure routine can be used as a personal wind-down practice, but it should not replace evidence-based insomnia care.
Check-in
How settled do you feel right now?
- More settled
- About the same
- Less settled
Immediate self-report only; not a clinical outcome, treatment response, or efficacy measure.
Completion
Keep the screen down if it feels practical and let your bedtime continue without trying to force sleep.