This study focused on the effects of intradermal acupuncture on insomnia after stroke. Hospitalised stroke patients with insomnia were randomised into a real intradermal acupuncture group (RA group) or a sham acupuncture group (SA group). The RA group received intradermal acupuncture on shen-men (He 7) and nei-kuan (EH 6) for 2 days, and the SA group received sham acupuncture on the same points. The effectiveness was measured by the Morning Questionnaire (MQ), Insomnia Severity Index (ISI) and Athens Insomnia Scale (AIS). These scales were examined by an independent, blinded neurologist before, and 1 and 2 days after treatment, repeatedly. Thirty subjects (15 in the RA group and 15 in the SA group) were included in the final analysis. The RA group showed more improvement in insomnia than the SA group. Repeated measures analysis detected that there were significant between-subject effects in the MQ, ISI and AIS.