Vagas tone Dr. Jockers podcast

  • You can’t be in growth and protection at the same time
  •  Ways to test
  • Shine a light should constrict for 10 seconds before dilating if don’t then poor vagal tone
  • If no constriction thenparasympathetic dominance
  • Aura ring tracks HRV and sleep
  • HRV gold standard
  • Want variability shows adaptability
  • BP too high equals sympathetic and too low is parasympathetic
  • Orthostatic
  • Laying and standing quickly causes dizziness is poor vagal tone
  • Best way to help
  • Breathe corectly
  • Slow deep breaths tell body what state you are in
  • Daily practices of gratitude
  • Improve sleep
  • Every hour of sleep before midnight is equivalent to 3 hours after
  • Laughter- stimulates palate as well of other endorphins
  • Dark room and 65 degrees
  • Exercise
  • Gargglinf water- singing
  • Humming
  • Praying outlook
  • Stretching or yoga intential movements
  • Do not exwefxiee to close to evening
  • Stop eating 3 hours before bef
  • Cold shower or cold on face
  • Antoinammatory diet

Everything You Need to Know About the Vagus Nerve

The human body is made up of an intricate system of nerves that controls much of what your body does. Your body’s nerves dictate how you do daily activities like breathing, swallowing, and walking as well as how you react to emergency situations and interact with stimuli around you. As there is such a wide variety of functions that the body’s nerves control, they’ve been classified into different nerve types and names. One of the body’s most influential nerves is the Vagus nerve.

The Vagus nerve is one of the body’s nerves that acts as an internal brake pedal. It is essential in controlling how the body responds to stress. When the Vagus nerve is disconnected or out of alignment, you may experience a range of symptoms that disrupt your daily life as well as your overall health. An experienced chiropractor can check your nervous system for subluxations and stress to evaluate the health of your Vagus nerve and help heal it so that you can live a life that brings you joy. First, however, you need to know more about this important nerve and how you can identify it as the source of your troubles. Let’s dive into what exactly the Vagus nerve is, how to tell if yours is turned off, and how neurological-based chiropractic care can help.

What Is the Vagus Nerve?

The Vagus nerve is one of 12 cranial nerves in the body. These nerves come in pairs and help link the brain with other parts of the body, including the head, neck, and torso. While all cranial nerves are connected to the brain, they have different types of functions. Some have motor functions, meaning that they control the movement of different muscles and the functions of certain glands. Other cranial nerves have sensory functions, allowing them to send sensory information to the brain. This information includes details about sights, tastes, sounds, and smells. Certain cranial nerves have both sensory and motor functions.

The Vagus nerve is one of these multi-tasking cranial nerves. In Latin, the word “vagus” means “wandering.” As the Vagus nerve is the longest cranial nerve and sends branches to nearly every gland and organ in the thorax and abdomen, the name is very appropriate. Each cranial nerve is numbered between one and 12 based on their location. The Vagus nerve is the 10th cranial nerve, starting in the brain stem, exiting out through the skull, and traveling down to the throat, chest, diaphragm, and abdomen.

What Does the Vagus Nerve Do?

As mentioned previously, the Vagus nerve has both sensory and motor functions. Its sensory functions can be divided into two components: somatic and visceral. While somatic components are sensations you feel on the skin or in the muscles, visceral components are sensations you feel in your organs. The Vagus nerve provides somatic sensation information for certain parts of the throat, the external part of the ear canal, and the skin behind the ear. It provides visceral sensation information for the heart, trachea, lungs, esophagus, larynx, and most of the digestive tract. This nerve also plays a minor role in the sensation of taste near the root of your tongue.

For motor functions, the Vagus nerve stimulates muscles in the larynx, pharynx, and the soft palate, which is the fleshy area at the back of the roof of the mouth. These muscles are crucial for functions such as breathing and swallowing. The Vagus nerve also stimulates muscles in the heart, helping to lower the body’s resting heart rate. Within the digestive tract, the Vagus nerve stimulates involuntary contractions in the esophagus, stomach, and most of the intestines. This allows food to move through the tract.

In addition to controlling the resting heart rate and swallowing and digesting food, the Vagus nerve has the following functions:

  • Decreasing inflammation
  • Producing anti-stress hormones (acetylcholine and oxytocin)
  • Keeping the lungs breathing
  • Supporting immune and stem cell function

Essentially, the Vagus nerve and the brain communicate with one another to allow the body to be in a “rest and digest” state. Through the Vagus nerve, your brain informs your body that everything is safe in the environment around you, stimulating the parasympathetic nervous system that controls the “rest and digest” functions in organs such as the throat, esophagus, heart, lungs, and stomach. Your body can then use the Vagus nerve to tell your brain information about the world around you, such as temperature, pain, and touch.

How Do You Know When the Vagus Nerve Is Disconnected?

With so many important functions that help you live a restful and enjoyable life, a disconnected Vagus nerve can be a major problem. Due to the nerve’s location exiting the skull, physical stress from birth trauma can disconnect it. If the Vagus nerve is turned off, the body gets stuck in a “fight or flight” state that can be stressful for a child. It can impact a variety of abilities, all relating to how a child develops and how they interact with their environment.

There are many signs and symptoms of a disconnected Vagus nerve, but some include:

  • Increased anxiety and nervousness
  • Poor digestion
  • A lower immune response
  • Increased inflammation
  • Difficulty swallowing
  • Decreased speech and communication
  • Unusual heart rate or breathing patterns

A disconnected Vagus nerve can be detrimental to a person’s ability to function and their overall health. For a child who is learning how to navigate the world around them, the disconnection of this nerve can significantly impact their development.

How Can You Heal a Disconnected Vagus Nerve?

The best way to remedy these symptoms is to see a chiropractor who specializes in neurological-based chiropractic care. A chiropractor will be able to check your nervous system for stress and subluxations to determine the health of your Vagus nerve. With gentle chiropractic adjustment techniques that don’t involve any cracking or popping, your nervous system will start to heal as it switches from the “fight or flight” state, also known as the gas pedal state, to the “rest and digest” state, or brake pedal state. This state promotes calm and relaxation, ultimately resulting in a body that is healthy, healing, and thriving.

If your child is displaying the symptoms of a disconnected Vagus nerve, you can also bring them to a pediatric chiropractor who focuses on neurological-based adjustments. The chiropractor will first evaluate your child to ensure that it is the Vagus nerve that is causing them trouble. They will then use gentle techniques that don’t cause discomfort or pain to help turn the Vagus nerve back on.

How Can You Prevent Disconnecting the Vagus Nerve?

While you can certainly use chiropractic techniques to help heal the Vagus nerve, its preferable to prevent the nerve from disconnecting at all. If you are pregnant and concerned about your baby experiencing stress from birth trauma, see an experienced chiropractor for prenatal chiropractic care. They can use gentle techniques to better ensure that your pelvis is in the optimal position for birth. This allows your baby to enter the world in the least stressful way possible and can help prevent a disconnected Vagus nerve.

Having a healthy Vagus nerve can mean the difference between living an enjoyable life and living a stressful one. Start your journey to living a life you can fully enjoy by seeking chiropractic care. If you would like an experienced chiropractor to evaluate your nervous system or that of your child, contact Living Life Chiropractic today.