With each passing year, more and more evidence is mounting supporting the benefits of regular chiropractic adjustments.
Every year, scientists are publishing scientific chiropractic-based studies aimed at gaining a little more understanding as to how chiropractic influences your health and wellness.
While there’s a lot of work yet to do, the evidence is pointing to a world of possibilities when it comes to neuroplasticity (changes in nerve and brain tissue) and human performance.
Still, there are new frontiers yet to be explored.
One of these is the area of vagal nerve stimulation.
Recent research indicates that decreased neuro-inflammation is associated with higher vagus nerve activity. [1]
So what is the vagus nerve and how exactly does a chiropractic adjustment stimulate the vagus nerve?
The Vagus Nerve is a Key to Well Being
Take a deep breath.
Hug a friend.
Reach for the ceiling and stretch your limbs.
Each of these simple acts bestows a sense of calm and comfort.
And each works its soothing magic in part by activating a complicated system of nerves that connects the brain to the heart, the gut, the immune system, and many of the organs.
That system is known collectively as the vagus nerve.
These nerve networks act as lines of communication between the brain and the body’s many systems and organs.
Some of the cranial nerves interpret sensory information collected by the skin, eyes, or tongue.
Others control muscles or communicate with glands.
The vagus nerve, also called the “10th cranial nerve,” is the longest, largest, and most complex of the cranial nerves, and in some ways it’s also the least understood.
Experts have linked its activity to symptom changes in people with migraine headaches, inflammatory bowel disease, depression, epilepsy, arthritis, and many other common ailments.
The more scientists learn about the vagus nerve, the more it seems like a better understanding of its function could unlock new doors to treating all manner of human suffering.
We know that depressed people have low vagus nerve activity.
A separate branch of the vagus nerve runs down to the gastrointestinal tract and decreased activity is associated with slowed gastric function, which interferes with proper digestion.
Still other branches of the vagus nerve are connected to the heart, the lungs, and the immune system.
The vagus nerve’s activation or deactivation is tied to the ebb or flow of hormones such as cortisol and the digestive hormone ghrelin, the amount of inflammation the immune system produces, and many other internal processes that shape human health and experience.
There’s a massive bioelectrical and biochemical series of events that the vagus nerve is responsible for, and all that is almost impossible to map; yet we know that chiropractic adjustments can stimulate it.
Why is that important?
Pick almost any common medical condition that’s made worse by stress or inflammation — everything from arthritis to inflammatory bowel disease — and there’s research showing that vagus nerve stimulation can help treat it or relieve its symptoms.
Chiropractic Adjustments Influence the Vagus Nerve
The vagus nerve is especially important to Chiropractors because of the link between essential nerves and the spine and upper neck.
Spinal health plays a significant role in directing the health of the vagus nerve.
If the spine becomes altered in its positioning or ability to move freely, the information to and from the spinal nerves become interrupted.
Chiropractors play close attention to the alignment and movement of the spine to assure better vagus nerve activity.
New research from 2018 proved that chiropractic adjustments boost the function of the vagus nerve by impacting heart rate variability, which is what the vagus nerve controls.
Another study showed that long term chiropractic care (52 weeks) resulted in sustained improvements of heart rate variability.
An improvement in the vagus nerve activity plays a major role in regulating autonomic nervous system function, lowering chronic disease risk, and decreasing mortality rates.
Better health and function within the nervous system represents only a portion of the benefits experienced through regular Chiropractic care.
All people deserve the proven health care option delivered conveniently by a local Chiropractor.
Now you know!
