One way to try stimulating the vagus nerve is by placing an ice pack on your neck or chest. The research on this sleep hack is still very limited, but a small study from 2018 found that applying something cold to the outside of the neck can slow down the heart rate and increase vagal nerve activation.
Sleep on the right side
Lying on the back decreases Vagus Nerve activation, but sleeping on the right side shows greater Vagus Nerve stimulation compared to left side sleeping.
Deep breathing: Slow, deep breathing exercises, such as diaphragmatic breathing or belly breathing, can stimulate the vagus nerve and promote relaxation, which can help with insomnia. You can do it by inhaling slowly through the nose, allowing the belly to expand, and exhaling slowly through the mouth.
Icing your vagus nerve, the longest nerve in your body, may help you calm down and fall asleep more easily. And all you need is an ice pack—or just a bag of frozen peas. As the main nerve of your parasympathetic nervous system, your vagus nerve plays a key role in your immune system, digestion, and heart rate.
Loud gargling with water or loud singing activates our vocal cords which in turn stimulates the vagus nerve.
The left vagal nerve runs down the left side of your neck, and the right vagal nerve runs down your right side. This nerve extends all the way from your brain to the large intestines: down your neck, through your chest, around your heart, around your lungs, and through your abdomen and intestines.
Sleep is influenced by emotions, and also by both neural and humoral regulation, in which the vagus nerve plays an important role in the regulation of sleep and mood owing to its extensive distribution and functions [29]. At present, VNS is an effective adjuvant treatment for epilepsy, depression, and insomnia.
Drinking cold water or splashing cold water on your face may be enough to stimulate your vagus nerve. You can also take cold showers, and take a swim in an unheated pool. Check out Vim Hoff for more information on this. Yoga increases vagus nerve activity and your parasympathetic system.
The most common symptoms of vagus nerve dysfunction include chronic pain, fatigue, dizziness, lightheadedness, spinning or pulling sensation (in a particular direction), weight loss, poor focusing, exercise intolerance, emotional lability, inflammation, heartburn, bloating, diarrhea, tinnitus, headache, anxiety, ...
Unlike stimulation of vagus nerve, vagotomy decreased these effects of melatonin. Conclusion: According to these results, it is probable that protective effects of melatonin after I/R may be mediated by vagus nerve. Therefore, there is an interaction between melatonin and vagus nerve in their protective effects.
Nutrients that support the vagus nerve include: Choline (to make acetylcholine, our main neurotransmitter) Vitamin B12. Magnesium.
Massage: Stimulate the vagus nerve by massaging your ears and scalp or give yourself a foot massage. One general way of massaging the ear, most efficient to do both sides at once. Place your index finger behind the bottom back of your ear.
Eat foods rich in tryptophan.
Dietary tryptophan is metabolized in the gut and may help the astrocytes—cells in the brain and spinal cord—control inflammation, which may improve communication from the gut to the brain via the vagal messenger pathway. These foods include spinach, seeds, nuts, bananas, and poultry.
This vagal nerve damage can result from diabetes, viral infections, abdominal surgery and scleroderma. Vasovagal syncope: Syncope is another word for fainting. Vasovagal syncope occurs when a vagus nerve to your heart overreacts to certain situations like extreme heat, anxiety, hunger, pain or stress.
Lavender is known to reboot our nervous system and this soothes the vagus nerve and can activate the natural healing capacity of our body.
Side effects during the use of VNS are usually related to the "on" phase of stimulation. Common side effects are cough, hoarseness, voice alteration, and paresthesias. These side effects tend to diminish with time.
The vagal response is a series of unpleasant symptoms that occur when the vagus nerve is stimulated. Often, this response is triggered by certain things like stress, pain, and fear. Symptoms of the vagal response include dizziness, nausea, ringing ears, and sweating.
If the vagus nerve isn't working properly, it could cause anxiety and other problems like depression, panic attacks, insomnia, digestive issues, and even autoimmune disorders.
Another way to activate the vagus nerve is by massaging between the shoulder muscles in a twist-style motion. Another way to massage the neck is to apply gentle pressure on the sides of the neck where the carotid artery is located. This can be found by gently applying pressure to the neck to find the pulse.
Considering the course of the vagal nerve in the cervical region, it is thought that conditions such as stiffness, tightness and decreased elasticity in this region may compress the vagal nerve andmay affect vagal function.