I\u2019m sitting on a massage table, legs dangling over the edge and saying \u2018ahhhh\u2019. My therapist (is that what you even call him?) Sam isn\u2019t looking at my tonsils, or my tongue. He\u2019s inspecting my uvula (or, to use the technical term \u2018the dangly throat thing\u2019).\u00a0<\/p>\n
I\u2019m here to get my vagus nerve stimulated, which is far less kinky than that sentence implies. I\u2019ve written about the vagus nerve<\/a> a couple of times now, specifically its connection to gut health. But despite being an unashamed gut-health junkie, who will try anything if it promises me a good digestive time, this treatment is a new experience for me. Needless to say, I\u2019m just a bit excited, because meeting Sam is kind of the gut health equivalent of a one-on-one with Batman.\u00a0<\/p>\n Sam, (or rather, Samuel Minkin BHSci Musculoskeletal Therapy, Dip. Fitness, PBMt practitioner and taVNS practitioner) works out of MO+ clinic<\/a> in Sydney\u2019s famed Bondi Junction. Aside from having an impressive list of qualifications behind him, he\u2019s also one of the few experts in Australia with a specialty in the vagus nerve, and non-invasive auricular vagus nerve stimulation \u2013 which is what I\u2019m getting today.\u00a0<\/p>\n But back to my uvula. Sam is inspecting it (specifically, the way it moves) because it holds the key to my treatment. He explains, \u201cthe uvula and the soft palate in the back of the mouth is supplied by the vagus nerve. By assessing the uvula\u2019s position, movement and any deviation I can literally see the state of the vagus nerve and correlate this with other examinations such as the sensory ear exam and gag reflex assessment to decipher treatment. As an example, sideways deviation of the uvula almost always indicates low tone on the corresponding side of the vagus nerve.\u201d So what is mine telling him? Not surprisingly, that my gut needs a little help \u2013 which is obviously why I\u2019m here. I lay down on the bed and Sam clips some pegs to my ears, where, evidently the auricular branch of both vagus nerves innervates the skin. Sam explains what\u2019s about to go down in the 30-minute, non-invasive stimulation treatment.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cBy using electrical current on these areas of the ear we can increase the electrical activity (tone) in the nerve throughout the rest of the nerve pathway. The particular pattern of different frequencies and pulse width is vital to getting clinically significant benefits.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n The goal is to increase the tone of the vagus nerve(s) which is the bridge between the gut and the brain (often called the gut-brain axis). Toning up this guy means better sensory feedback to the brain from around the body vice versa, meaning the whole body (and your brain\u2026 and your gut) all function better. It also activates the parasympathetic nervous system and means your body can relax faster after stress \u2013 so you\u2019re quicker to recover from stressful situations.<\/p>\n As I settle into the treatment I first need to get over the sensation of my ears buzzing like I\u2019m standing too close to a speaker pumping some fat bass at a club. That, and the clips feel like\u2026 well like someone has clipped some pegs on my ears. It\u2019s not uncomfortable per se, but I won\u2019t be calling them up for a good time either.\u00a0<\/p>\n To take my mind off it, I ask Sam what would have happened if my dangly thing had moved the other way. \u201cThere are two vagus nerves \u2013 a left and a right,\u201d he says, \u201cthe left mainly goes to digestive organs and the right goes to the heart and has greater effects on the brain and mental health.\u201d So moving the other way would have indicated that the treatment should perhaps focus on my mental health. A light bulb goes off in my head \u2013 and no it\u2019s got nothing to do with the electrical currently coursing through me. \u201cHold up,\u201d I say, \u201cso is there a link between mental health conditions and poor vagal tone?\u201d<\/p>\n The answer of course, is yes. But perhaps even more exciting is that this type of stimulation can (and is!) being used in the treatment of conditions like anxiety and treatment resistant depression. That\u2019s because the vagus is the main parasympathetic nerve in the body \u2013 and the parasympathetic nervous system controls everything from mood, immune response, as well as moving the body from a stressed state to one of calm and relaxation \u2013 the state where the body can both heal and repair.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cChronic stress inhibits the vagus nerve at a cellular level which reduces its ability to increase norepinephrine (adrenalin) in the frontal lobe of the brain. As the frontal lobe is responsible for personality, mood, emotional regulation and motivation via the neurotransmitter dopamine, any decrease in function can produce states such as depression and anxiety,\u201d says Sam. But the effect is twofold since a healthy gut microbiome actually increases the feel-good hormone, serotonin\u2026 and the gut microbiome is regulated by \u2013 you guessed it \u2013 the vagus nerve. And of course the connection between gut health and mental health is well documented, but it doesn\u2019t even stop there.\u00a0 It\u2019s all a lot to take in. Especially for someone currently laying horizontal, now sweetly lulled by the buzzing through her body. But, actually studies on the vagus nerve<\/a> and the link to mental health<\/a> have been going on for years, with vagus nerve stimulation being used in conjunction with more traditional treatments for mood and anxiety disorders<\/a>, treatment resisitant depression<\/a>, drug resistant depression<\/a>, major depressive disorder and even PTSD. On top of this, it was (and still is today) used as a way to treat epilepsy.<\/p>\n The journalist (and skeptic) in me is itching to ask the burning question now \u2013 but how? How can these little ear clips, and a 30-minute lie-down change something that is so ingrained? Unfazed by the interrogation Sam answers, \u201cthere are various regions of the brain that strongly interact with each other known as the Default Mode Network (DFN). In depression, fMRI scans of the brain shows that the DMN is overactive. Direct vagus nerve stimulation has been shown on fMRI to quieten DMN activity. People feel improvements in mood but also with increased brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) from vagus stimulation, neuroplasticity literally allows the brain to rewire its self to be happy, positive and motivated and the person to be in control of their emotions.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Sam also tells me about the success he\u2019s had with his own patients, including a 19-year-old living with treatment-resistant depression who came to him having tried everything \u2013 including electro convulsive therapy. Referred to him by a clinical psychiatrist, she started the treatment and within three weeks they were able to reduce her lithium.\u00a0<\/p>\n I\u2019m having a hard time digesting all the information because it all sounds too good (and painless!) to be true. And with only a couple of treatments a week (assessing on a weekly basis and of course adjusting for each personal circumstance), it seems to me that everyone should be on board. That and the fact that since 1992 (when studies first begun on transauricular vagus nerve stimulation begun) Sam tells me there have been no known side effects, it does not interfere with medication and can be easily used along-side other treatments and medications. This is, of course, like any medical treatment if you are receiving from a licensed practitioner \u2013 one that understands the mechanisms and contraindications to therapy.\u00a0<\/p>\n So is that really it? A few months of weekly treatments and you\u2019re magically vagal-toned for the rest of your life? Well that is the big unknown, though realistically the answer is probably not. Because while the treatment\u2019s goal is to restore the vagus nerve to optimal tone so it can self regulate, everyday stress, sickness, viruses, and antibiotics can throw it out again. It\u2019s all a part of the gut health journey.<\/p>\n My treatment is coming to an end. I feel like I\u2019m coming out of a weird little half-hour nap, a tiny bit disorientated and lightheaded. But perhaps that\u2019s just the dump of information that\u2019s just descended on my brain. Other than that, I don\u2019t feel any different. It\u2019s not like emerging from a facial with the skin of a teenager. That said, I haven\u2019t signed up to a course of treatment so I\u2019m not expecting monumental shifts in wellbeing after a single shot. So I leave, with my head full, and interest in the vagus nerve piqued again.\u00a0<\/p>\n Days later, I was talking to my partner about my digestion (yes, this is just one of the sexy pillow talk convos we have). \u201cSomething is different,\u201d I say, \u201cwhat have we been eating? I\u2019m, like ridiculously regular\u2026\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n He looks at me, on the verge of an eye roll, after being the recipient of my post-stimulation monologue. A beat passes (OK, maybe five). And then the penny drops. I guess those ear clips were doing something after all.\u00a0<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" D\u00e9sol\u00e9, cet article est seulement disponible en Anglais Am\u00e9ricain.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[8,1382],"tags":[4471,5702,6866],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.wearedore.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/287058"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.wearedore.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.wearedore.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.wearedore.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/42"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.wearedore.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=287058"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/wp.wearedore.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/287058\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":287061,"href":"https:\/\/wp.wearedore.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/287058\/revisions\/287061"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.wearedore.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=287058"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.wearedore.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=287058"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.wearedore.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=287058"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n\u201cOne other way that the vagus nerve helps with depression and anxiety is through the spiking of BDNF (brain derived neurotrophic factor), which is needed for neuroplastic change. This facilitates the neuroplastic changes that are required to go from depressed to non-depressed states long-term.\u201d<\/p>\n