The Vagus Nerve

THE VAGUS NERVE!

A seemingly never-ending branching nerve that connects most of our major organs to our brain .⠀It’s the longest cranial nerve in our body, one for the right side and one for the left. And is largely responsible for the #mindbody connection for its role as a mediator between thinking and feeling, you know our “gut feeling.”⠀

The vagus nerve is the “queen” of the parasympathetic nervous system. The “rest and digest” or the #chillout nerve. So the more we do things to activate the #vagus nerve (like deep breathing), the most we combat the effects of its opposer, the sympathetic nervous system – the “fight or flight” response, or rushing around, having to do something, #stress, and overwhelm.⠀

A few other functions of the vagus nerve, just to name a few:

slows your heart rate and respiration.
lowers blood pressure.
helps with calmness and relaxation.
controls involuntary muscles in the digestive system, therefore, aiding digestion.
taste sensation.
movement function for the muscles in the neck responsible for swallowing and speech.
gut-brain communication.
reduces inflammation.

The power of Chiropractic adjustments… greatly affects the vagus nerve function!

The strength of your Vagus response (or vagal tone) can be measured by heart rate (HRV). We measure Heart Rate Variability at all our new patient exams. It is used to assess your nervous system, which controls and coordinates your heart. Your body is a self-healing and self-regulating organism. Your ability to live and heal is based on your ability to adapt to life’s challenges. HRV assesses the your nervous systems adaptation to stress. The more you can switch between parasympathetic and sympathetic responses in the body, and balance the two, the better you will be able to heal, recover, and repair. Regular Chiropractic care increases Vagus nerve activity promoting the parasympathetic response in your body. In our fast paced world, we often find people living with the foot on the gas pedal (sympathetic response). Our office focuses on your nervous system – and we adjust nerve interference to help the body heal the root cause and not just symptoms of pain!