Parse through the myths and health concerns to learn about social media’s biggest wellness influencer trend
For the last five years or so, plenty of online personalities have been telling us how to engage with the latest pop-wellness phenomenon: stimulating your vagus nerve. With this, plenty of questions arise: how do I stimulate my vagus nerve? What are the benefits of vagus nerve stimulation? Are there any risks associated with it? What do licensed medical professionals have to say about it?
The idea that stimulating your vagus nerve solves so many of life’s problems may not have as much scientific backing as you think, but that doesn’t mean there are no benefits.
There are a lot of people out there, mostly TikTokers, who will tell you that stimulating your vagus nerve is essentially a miracle that can fix every problem you have, physical or emotional. Many influencers have made the claims that it can instantly calm you down from any anxiety. It’s always important to remember this rule of thumb: if that sounds too good to be true, then it probably isn’t. This is one of those moments. There is no scientific evidence to suggest that the vagus nerve functions this way. .
The idea that the vagus nerve will limit your anxiety, at least on paper, has some logic behind it. The vagus nerve does connect to your heart, and it does monitor heart rate, but that doesn’t mean that stimulating it will cure anxiety. Doctor-prescribed vagus nerve stimulation can be used to treat tachycardia (unhealthily high heart rate) and treatment resistant depression. It could, then, seem logical to draw a conclusion that your vagus nerve also limits anxiety, which is not the case.
Anxiety is generally caused by an overactive amygdala, which is the part of the brain that processes stress. Stress itself is the result of your brain producing cortisol, nicknamed “the stress hormone.” Cortisol is produced by the adrenal glands, which are down in your kidneys. While it can be good to know what physical part of your body you can blame for your problems, it’s also important to recognize that the vagus nerve has absolutely nothing to do with this process.
Vagus nerve stimulation, in terms of heart rate, has primarily been studied exclusively in the context of tachycardia. There’s also some research that suggests we can be helpful in treatment resistant depression, but only when prescribed by a doctor. Since it became this much of a trend, there have been more studies into vagus nerve stimulation not involving either of these serious conditions, though. Every single major study done by actual scientists has determined that, unless you are suffering from one of those two particular conditions, there is no reason to stimulate your vagus nerve. It just won’t actually do anything for you.
One particular method of stimulation you see fairly often is the implant. This is a device prescribed and implanted by a doctor. It functions similarly to a pacemaker, sending timed electric shocks to your vagus nerve. This cannot be stressed enough: no matter what, don’t try to administer your vagus nerve electric shocks. Like several other things discussed on this list, DIYing this prescribed procedure can only end poorly.
Yet another popular TikTok phrase, “resetting“ your vagus nerve is something plenty of influencers have told people to do. This is also not real. There is no scientific backing whatsoever as to what resetting your vagus nerve actually is. While this phrase isn’t necessarily as popular anymore, it’s always good to recognize that, when someone tells you to “reset your vagus nerve,” it’s a red flag and that person is definitely not licensed to practice medicine, and if they are, their license should probably be revoked.
Those who use this “reset” language will often be the biggest supporters of vagus nerve massages, specific point massages aimed at the nerve. While this can seem perfectly simple and safe at first, these are treatments that should only be administered by a doctor and can be damaging to your nerves if done without training.
Of the many different ways influencers have proposed you can stimulate the vagus nerve, very few will actually help in any way. Plenty of them are complete pseudoscience, and some, especially if done at all incorrectly, can be damaging. Remember, this isn’t just any part of our body we’re dealing with — this is a core part of our nervous system that connects about 75% of our body’s functions to our brain. Doing damage of any kind can have lasting negative effects you’ll likely carry with you your entire life.
Your vagus nerve connects just about everything from the brainstem down to the stomach on both sides of your body. It has direct connections at the heart, esophagus, and, most importantly, the brain. Risking damage towards any of these is playing with a dangerous fire.
Before we get into this, we need to establish the most important thing: never try to massage your own vagus nerve. You may hear that doctors will use certain pressure-related exercises to stimulate your vagus nerve.
There is one massive upside: if you really have to, you can safely stimulate your vagus nerve, and that can help with anxiety, but the healthy ways of doing it aren’t new, crazy miracle fixes. The two best ways to stimulate your vagus nerve are taking deep breaths and going on walks.
Yes, obviously, those things are going to help with stress. They are the same tips everyone always gives you, but they really are the only safe ways to stimulate your vagus nerve on your own, without a doctor present. If you’re really still intent on going after vagus nerve stimulation, these are the ways to do it.
One particular breathing exercise that often helps is box breathing. They are just a few, extremely simple steps:
The other classic tactic is going on a nature walk, or at least a walk outside in the fresh air. If you have access to a nearby park with a pathway, or a trail, that’s perfect. If not, all you need to do is find somewhere that you can walk around outside. If it’s an oppressively cold winter or dangerously hot summer, you could choose to either only stay outside for a brief moment, or just stay in and find a breathing technique that works. Otherwise, dress to your comfort ability level based on the weather and go on a nice walk.
Even then, if you have repetitive depressive symptoms and anxiety, breathing exercises and light exercise aren’t going to cure it. They’re essentially biological cheat codes that temporarily make you feel better, acting more like a makeshift splint than a cast. The best way to treat these issues is to establish healthy coping mechanisms, so all you really have to do is pick up a hobby. Let’s take a drawing for example: get a sketchbook, or just a couple random pieces of paper, and a pencil and just try to draw something you see. Will this stimulate your vagus nerve? No. Will your drawing look very good? Probably not. The important thing, though, is that you tried. I know this is a bit strange of an example, but there’s no such thing as a miracle cure.
In the end, we find the question of “how to stimulate the vagus nerve“ isn’t all that helpful in actually treating our issues. What is helpful, as in treating anxiety and depression, is finding hobbies that function as positive coping mechanisms. Taking deep breaths, and going on long, foggy, mental health walks, can be great in the moment, but the only way to neutralize a problem is to address it at its core. So, find a healthy coping mechanism, of which there are plenty to choose from, and start your journey to a happier life.
