Does vagus nerve stimulation work? A scientific cure-all explained.
On Tiktok, stimulation of the vagus nerve looks like a miracle remedy. Influencers claim that this can help a long list of diseases, especially – but without limiting themselves – anxiety, stress, depression and inflammation. You will not lack hacks to stimulate your vagus nerve, massages of bearing of the eyes and necks with buzzing and cold dives.
But stimulation of the vagus nerve (VNS) is not only a trend of well -being – it is also a real medical treatment involving specially designed VNS devices. Earlier this year, in July 2025, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the first VNS device implantable for rheumatoid arthritis, a painful autoimmune disease that attacks the joints. This is the last step of a long line of FDA approvals for VNS devices, which is already used to treat epilepsy, resistant treatment, obesity, migraines, cluster headaches, cerebral vascular accidents and opioid withdrawal.
So what exactly is the stimulation of the vagus nerve – and how real the contenders are influencers?
What is the vagus nerve?
The vagus nerve is one of the longest nerves in the body, flowing from your brain to your big intestine. (Although it is called a single nerve, there are actually two vague nerves – one on the left of the body and another on the right.)
Consider it as “a communication path between the brain and many organs, including the heart, the lungs and the digestive system”, explains Dr Mill Etienne, an associate professor of neurology and medicine at the New York Medical College. It controls many bodily functions, including your digestion, your heart rate, your blood pressure, your breathing, your immune system responses, mood, mucus and saliva production, skin and muscles sensations, speech, taste and urinary flow.
What is the stimulation of the vagus nerve?
The stimulation of the vagus nerve “works by providing small electrical pulses to the vagus nerve, generally via a device which is in the chest,” explains Etienne. “Pulses are generally issued at a fixed interval and can also give additional stimulation on demand.”
You can also stimulate the vagus nerve using special external devices that provide targeted electrical signals to the branches of the vagus nerve on the skin in the ear or in the neck, explains Dr. Dave Rabin, neuroscientist and psychiatrist.
“In doing so, you electrically activate the most important recovery nerve in the whole body,” he said.
There are also many natural ways to stimulate the longest nerve of the body, from cold dives to meditation.
Related health stories
The stimulation of the vagus nerve really works
For the conditions already eliminated by the FDA, stimulation of the vagus nerve has proven advantages. In epilepsy, a surgically implanted VNS device helps calm hyperactive neurons that cause convulsions. It is generally not curative, but it often allows patients to reduce drugs – and it means fewer side effects, explains Etienne. He saw the hospitalizations drop, the incessant convulsions (called Epilepticus status) disappear and the overall quality of life of patients improves.
In the recovery of stroke, an implant VNS can increase the capacity of the brain to “reclassify” after damage, explains Etienne. A clinical trial has shown that the pairing of VNs with physiotherapy improves the functioning of the arms and hand more than physiotherapy alone.
The vagus nerve also carries signals of fullness of the stomach lining to the brain, and a VNS implant has proven to reduce hunger and promote modest weight loss in obesity.
In addition, research has shown that an implant VNS considerably improves mood, vitality and overall well-being in people with depression for which traditional antidepressants are ineffective.
The newly approved VNS implant for rheumatoid arthritis helps reduce inflammation by activating the anti-inflammatory paths of the body. In a clinical trial, around 51.5% of patients who used it had a significant reduction in symptoms after 24 weeks.
In another study, people with migraines that used a portable VNS (gammacore) device on the side of their neck were much more likely to be painless within 30 minutes to an hour depending on the VNS, compared to those receiving simulated treatment (placebo). Yet another VNS non -invasive device (NSS -2 bridge) – placed behind the ear – reduces the symptoms of weaning opioids. The two devices can be bought on a prescription from a doctor.
Since the vagus nerve influences almost all of the main organ systems, scientists study if the VNS could help with a wide range of conditions, including irritable colon syndrome, Alzheimer’s disease, long mental and mental health disorders, such as anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Stimulation of the vagus nerve at home
The implementation of a VNS device in your chest is a big step, and everyone does not have access to this type of treatment, explains Etienne. But you can also refine your vagus nerve through lifestyle changes, without using a device.
The vagus nerve plays a crucial role in the regulation of your nervous system, helping you to move from stress to a rest response. Video: 5 ways to stimulate and regulate your vagus nerve, Cleveland Clinic
One of the simplest ways to stimulate the vagus nerve is by slow and deep breathing, explains Etienne. He recommends a technique called boxed breathing, where you inspire for four, hold your breath for four, exhale for four, then repeat the cycle. Meditation, mindfulness and forest baths (seated, walking or sleeping in the forest) can also help control the vagus nerve, he said.
“Listening to music or engaging in a musical activity such as singing, buzzing or singing is also great.” Other ways of stimulating the vagus nerve include exposure to cold, like splashing cold water on your face or taking a brief cold shower.
“These activities all help restore the balance between your sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system,” says Etienne. The sympathetic system is responsible for the combat or flight response, while the parasympathetic system activates the mode of rest and the body of the body.
“For many people, the sympathetic system is hyperactive, which can make you anxious and cause many other long -term health problems,” explains Etienne. Activities that stimulate the vagus nerve increases the activity of the long-term parasympathetic system activity, which is much better for your body, he said.
“Stress encourages the body to think that it is not certain,” says Rabin. VNS thwarts this by “sending security signals through the vagus nerve”, encouraging the body to slow down and recover.
Etienne recommends techniques of stimulating the vague DIY nerve to patients with all kinds of neurological disorders, not only to epilepsy and stroke. “I find that these are generally good for your overall health.”
However, according to Dr. Kevin Tracey, a neurosurgeon and president of the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research, it is important to distinguish between viral health hacks and therapeutic VNS devices approved by the FDA supported by science. In the laboratory, scientists can precisely target wave nerve fibers to control heart rate or inflammation. An ice bath, on the other hand, shakes the whole nervous system – not only the vagus nerve, wrote Tracey in an elevator published in 2024.
What experts really agree on is that stimulation of the vagus nerve has real medical power, and scientists are just starting to explore its full potential.
This story is part of popular sciences Ask us anything seriesWhere we answer your most bizarre and burning questions, from the ordinary to the wall. Do you have something you always wanted to know? Ask.
More offers, reviews and purchasing guides
