{"id":281680,"date":"2025-11-14T02:47:34","date_gmt":"2025-11-14T02:47:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/281680\/"},"modified":"2025-11-14T02:47:34","modified_gmt":"2025-11-14T02:47:34","slug":"can-zapping-your-vagus-nerve-really-ease-anxiety-and-help-you-sleep","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/281680\/","title":{"rendered":"Can zapping your vagus nerve really ease anxiety and help you sleep?"},"content":{"rendered":"

By stimulating the release of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, it lowers the heart rate and blood pressure while supporting digestion and the immune function. That\u2019s why, Etienne says, \u201cwe really want to try to get that vagus nerve activated, to get your nervous system back in balance.\u201d When it\u2019s not, he says, the effects often show up as \u201clack of sleep, being really low energy, mental health issues, and gut problems.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The medical origins of VNS tools<\/p>\n

Research into vagus nerve stimulation began in the 1980s, when scientists first tested it as a potential treatment for epilepsy. These devices were implanted in patients\u2019 necks, close to the vagus nerve, and controlled remotely. \u201cThe major outcome measure was diminishing seizure frequency by more than 50 percent, so the FDA approved the application of VNS to treat seizures in 1997,\u201d says \u200b\u200bTimea Hodics,<\/a> neurologist and stroke researcher at Houston Methodist<\/a> Hospital<\/a>. \u201cDuring those trials, they observed that people\u2019s depression improved as well, so that approval followed in 2005.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The first FDA approval for transcutaneous, or non-implanted, VNS devices came in 2018, for cluster headaches and migraines, followed by approval for post-stroke rehabilitation treatment in 2021.<\/p>\n

(Here\u2019s how changing the way you breathe can improve your brain and body<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

Consumer versions entered the market around five years ago. Using the same bioelectrical principles as implanted versions, these handheld or headphone-like tools are designed for brief daily use\u2014typically from a few minutes to an hour. They deliver mild electrical pulses via auricular (ear) or cervical (neck) contact.<\/p>\n

Since they\u2019re \u201capproximating where the nerve is,\u201d Etienne says, the current is reduced because it has to travel through the skin. \u201cAnother big difference is that when the [device is] inside the patient\u2019s body, we can actually guarantee they\u2019re going to get a certain amount of stimulation every day.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Are VNS devices proven to work?<\/p>\n

While implanted VNS has been studied extensively, research on newer, non-invasive versions remains limited. A 2023 study<\/a> found that transcutaneous VNS (tVNS) reduced acute stress in healthy young adults across five physiological outcomes, using a single-blind design to control for the placebo effect. A 2024 study<\/a> showed it was a \u201cpowerful and effective\u201d tool for reducing anxiety among retired teachers, but both these studies had small sample sizes (19 and 60 participants, respectively).<\/p>\n

\u201cThe question is whether [tVNS] really decreased the anxiety or just decreased the symptoms,\u201d says Hodics, commenting on the latter. \u201cI would have liked to have some degree of additional measures to find out.\u201d In contrast, she points out that another 2024 study<\/a>, which found significant improvements in sleep quality among 68 people with chronic insomnia, relies on \u201csubjective, self-reported measures\u201d rather than observable data.<\/p>\n

Still, researchers are finding intriguing intersections between bioelectrical science and mindfulness. A randomized controlled<\/a> trial published in August found that tVNS augmented self-compassion training, with the authors suggesting that it could be a useful tool for \u201cenhancing meditation-based psychotherapies.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Do experts recommend VNS devices?<\/p>\n

As research continues, experts say vagus nerve stimulation may be most useful as a complement to other stress-management techniques\u2014not a replacement for them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By stimulating the release of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, it lowers the heart rate and blood pressure while supporting…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":281681,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[128178,49,48,128175,84,128174,393,394,124413,128176,128169,128167,128166,128171,128172,128173,128168,128170,128177],"class_list":{"0":"post-281680","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mental-health","8":"tag-bioelectric-therapy","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-canada","11":"tag-fight-or-flight-response","12":"tag-health","13":"tag-how-to-activate-the-vagus-nerve","14":"tag-mental-health","15":"tag-mentalhealth","16":"tag-parasympathetic-nervous-system","17":"tag-stress-relief-devices","18":"tag-transcutaneous-vagus-nerve-stimulation","19":"tag-vagus-nerve-device","20":"tag-vagus-nerve-stimulation","21":"tag-vagus-nerve-stimulation-for-anxiety","22":"tag-vagus-nerve-stimulation-for-sleep","23":"tag-vagus-nerve-stimulation-research","24":"tag-vagus-nerve-stimulator","25":"tag-vagus-nerve-therapy","26":"tag-wellness-technology"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/281680","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=281680"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/281680\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/281681"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=281680"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=281680"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=281680"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}