The Vagus Nerve and the Mind-Body Connection

 The vagus nerve plays an important role in the mind-body connection, and according to La Jolla physicians, acupuncture has been found to stimulate the vagus nerve. Here we explore the benefits of vagus nerve stimulation.

The vagus nerve begins at the tenth cranial nerve in the brain and travels down the front of the neck, and envelopes the digestive system, visceral tissues, the heart, and the lungs. It literally connects the brain to the major internal organ systems of the body. The surface area of the vagus nerve is vast and it carries information between the mind and body at a rate that puts the world wide web to shame!

The tone of the vagus nerve regulates the activation of the parasympathetic nervous system, which is the part of your autonomic nervous system commonly associated with rest, relaxation, and digestion. It’s the opposite of the sympathetic nervous system, which is in charge of the fight-or-flight mechanism (the stress response). The vagus nerve influences your digestive system, reproductive system, endocrine system, cardiovascular system, neurological system, and the ability of your body to repair itself during sleep.

During the early days of modern medicine, doctors would cut the vagus nerve as a treatment for acid reflux and heartburn. It was believed that acid regurgitation was the result of having too much acid in the stomach, and it was known that the vagus nerve influenced the body’s ability to produce stomach acid. Now we know that acid reflux is not actually caused by producing too much stomach acid, but we also know more about the function of the vagus nerve because people who have their vagus nerve snipped suffer serious long-term side-effects on multiple organ systems.
Stimulation of the vagus nerve can have a profound effect on mood and healing. It increases stomach acid and digestive enzyme production so you can digest your food properly. It increases bile production for a well-functioning gallbladder and ability to digest and utilize fats for energy. Having enough stomach acid is also critical for killing bacteria, viruses, and molds that may have found their way into your food.

Stimulation of the vagus nerve also lowers blood pressure. If you suffer from hypertension or unstable blood pressure levels, your doctor will likely never tell you that this is a result of being in a constant state of fight-or-flight. Simple stimulation of your parasympathetic nervous system via the vagus nerve pathway can lower blood pressure naturally.

Proper tone of the vagus nerve has also been found to alleviate migraine headaches, depression, and anxiety. This is not profitable for the pharmaceutical companies that thrive on selling consumers anti-depressants, anti-anxiety pills, and pain relievers, so they would rather you not know this little secret about the vagus nerve.

There are several different ways to stimulate the vagus nerve to promote strong vagal tone. However, these simple vagus nerve toning techniques are not things that most of us do on a daily basis. That’s why it’s so common to experience digestive problems, anxiety, mood imbalances, and headaches! To tone your vagus nerve, you can practice humming for 5 - 10 minutes a day, meditation for 5 - 10 minutes a day, and taking slow, deep breaths for 5 - 10 minutes a day. Once a week, get acupuncture in Del Mar, CA! Over time, the tone of the vagus nerve will strengthen and your overall health should improve remarkably.

How To Get the Most Benefit From Your Acupuncture Treatment

Scientific studies show that some individuals seem to benefit from acupuncture more than others. In this article, we explain how you can get the most benefits from your acupuncture treatments. 

1. Wear Comfortable (Loose) Clothing

Unlike massage therapy, it’s not necessary to completely disrobe for an acupuncture treatment. Most people tend to feel most comfortable in loungewear, yoga pants, and other types of clothing made of natural fabrics that are soft to the touch and not tight anywhere on the body. If you show up to your acupuncture treatment wearing Spanx, pantyhose, a corset, and a zip-up dress, you will need to completely disrobe for your acupuncture session. Know this before your appointment so that if you’re uncomfortable completely disrobing, you can remember to bring some comfortable, loose clothing to change into when you arrive for your acupuncture in Del Mar, CA.

2. Do not drink caffeine before your acupuncture appointment, especially if you are getting acupuncture for the treatment of pain.

Research in the Journal of Chinese Medicine confirms that consuming caffeine prior to receiving acupuncture reversed the analgesic (pain-relieving) effect of acupuncture. There is some reason to believe that caffeine may inhibit other healing mechanisms of acupuncture as well. In order to get the most benefit from your acupuncture treatments, it would be a good idea to refrain from using caffeine prior to your treatment. A small amount of caffeine that may be present in decaffeinated coffee, decaffeinated tea, or chocolate is not enough caffeine to reduce the effects of acupuncture, so feel free to indulge in a square of dark chocolate and a cup of rooibos tea in La Jolla, CA before your acupuncture appointment!

3. Refrain from using pain-relieving over-the-counter medications prior to your acupuncture treatment.

If you are getting acupuncture for the treatment of a pain condition, you probably use an over-the-counter or prescription pain reliever throughout the day to alleviate the pain. Unfortunately, the chronic use of pain relieving medications can build up a tolerance in the body, causing you to need higher and higher amounts of the pain relieving substances to produce any effects. This can be a terrible experience for anyone dealing from chronic pain, whether it’s rheumatoid arthritis, migraine headaches, or an old injury that causes frequent, nagging pain. Among headache sufferers, daily usage of pain relievers can even lead to an increase in the number and severity of your headaches! That is reason enough to consider the alternatives to pain relieving drugs when you have a chronic pain condition. Discovering the underlying cause of the pain is a good first step. Trying acupuncture is another intelligent decision. However, it’s important to avoid using a pain reliever prior to your acupuncture appointment. Pain relieving medications, like caffeine, can inhibit the analgesic effects of acupuncture. Therefore, to get the most pain-relieving benefit from acupuncture, don’t pop a Tylenol before you go in for your appointment!

 

Acupuncture Del Mar CA: How Acupuncture, Herbs, and Functional Medicine Can Heal Mood Imbalances

If you suffer from a depressed mood, PMS, or constant ups and downs in your emotions, conventional doctors will most likely give you an antidepressant. Learn about how to cure a mood imbalance using the natural approach.

Antidepressants usually don’t have any better effect than a placebo, according to numerous double-blind randomized controlled trials (the gold standard in pharmaceutical research). There is also a growing amount of evidence stating that antidepressants may even increase your risk of becoming suicidal. Pharmaceutical products that are prescribed like candy by many doctors today directly affect your brain’s neurotransmitters (usually serotonin), regardless of whether a lack of serotonin was indeed the underlying cause of your mood imbalance (new research has shown that low serotonin is NOT, in fact, the cause of depression). Because of the way antidepressants change your brain’s biochemistry, they can cause your mood imbalance to actually get worse. (This is why using an antidepressant could make you feel suicidal.)

Chinese Medicine and Functional Medicine take a natural approach towards balancing mood. Before any treatment is given, the underlying cause is determined. One patient with symptoms of depression may have a totally different biological cause of that depression than the next patient with symptoms of depression. Therefore, there is not one “herb for depression” or “supplement for depression.” When you get acupuncture in Del Mar, CA, your practitioner realizes that you are an individual -- not a disease or symptom -- and you therefore deserve an individualized treatment.

There are a variety of Chinese herbal formulas that are used for mood imbalances, depending on the underlying cause of the mood imbalance in the individual patient. Likewise, in functional medicine, there are a variety of methods of treatment. Your practitioner may want to test your levels of sex hormones such as estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone, as well as your neurotransmitters such as serotonin and dopamine. Because we have artificial light at night, and often sleep next to a fluorescent lit alarm clock (or even get fewer than 8 hours of sleep on a regular basis), it’s highly common for natural circadian rhythms to be disrupted. This stresses the adrenal glands, and subsequently the adrenal hormones such as cortisol and DHEA. That adrenal stress is frequently a cause of mood imbalances -- especially those involving anxiety or the feeling of being “wired and tired.” Acupuncture in La Jolla, CA works to restore balance to the adrenal glands, neurotransmitters, and circadian rhythm.

Finally, you should not ignore nutrition when you’re suffering from mood imbalances. Low cholesterol and a diet low in cholesterol and saturated fat is associated with depression, suicide, bipolar disorder, and mood swings. This runs contrary to the dietary advice that was prevalent throughout the 1970’s, 80’s, and 90’s. This is also the time period in which obesity doubled, and overweight rose from a mere 10% of the population to nearly 70% of the population in the United States. Eating egg yolks, butter, tallow, bacon, cod liver oil, and plenty of small, fatty fish and seafood gives your body the fuel it needs to produce hormones and neurotransmitters in the proper amounts.