How massage helps digestive health, immune response, breathing, stress, anxiety, and more. The role of the vagus nerve.

The vagus nerve has received a lot of attention in the past decade, and for good reason. As the main driver of our parasympathetic nervous system, our rest and digest response, it plays a vital role in our regenerative functions such as healing, recovery, and repair. The word vagus means ‘wanderer’, and true to its name, it’s the longest cranial nerve (CN X), following a winding and wandering path through the body.

We have two vagus nerves, one on each side, and together they form a network that connects the brain not just to the gut, but also to most of our organs and immune system. These nerves run from the brainstem, down through the neck and thorax, pass through the diaphragm and touch nearly every major organ on their way to the large intestine. While most people have heard of the gut-brain connection, the vagus nerve is more like the epicentre of the entire brain-body connection.

What does the vagus nerve do?

The vagus nerve is the main pathway of the parasympathetic nervous system, which helps balance out our sympathetic, or fight or flight, response. It carries both sensory and motor fibres, with around 80% of these fibres being sensory. This means that the vagus nerve’s main role is to sense and monitor what’s happening in the body and send that information up to the brain. The remaining fibres are motor and help control functions like swallowing, speaking, digestion, heart rate, lung function, and the processes that help shift the body into rest and recovery mode.

The vagus nerve plays a key role in regulating functions like:

• Heart rate, blood pressure, and breathing
• Immune responses, inflammation, and antibody production
• Gut peristalsis (motility) and digestive enzyme release
• Insulin and bile secretion to support blood sugar and liver function
• Muscles in the throat that help us swallow and speak
• The body’s stress response via the HPA axis

Have you ever noticed your tummy gurgling away during treatment? That’s actually a great sign that your nervous system is beginning to shift into its rest and digest state, and more specifically, that your vagus nerve is responding. We see it as a positive response and always welcome it as a sign your body is relaxing and settling.

What can disrupt vagus nerve function?

The main causes of vagus nerve dysfunction include infection, inflammation, physical injury or compression, chronic stress or psychological trauma, and neurological or neurodegenerative conditions.

Signs of vagus nerve dysfunction or damage

• Difficulty swallowing
• Changes in heart rate and blood pressure
• Dizziness and fainting
• Voice changes
• Gastroparesis (delayed gastric emptying)
• Digestive issues like bloating, nausea, or loss of appetite
• Increased inflammation
• Mood changes

How Soft Tissue Therapy supports your vagus nerve

Our therapists are specially trained in research-backed techniques that gently support vagus nerve function. While we can’t touch the vagus nerve directly, as it sits too deep within the body, we can influence it by working with its mechanical interface: the surrounding muscles, joints, and connective tissues that interact with it.

Our role as Soft Tissue Therapists is to meet your body where it’s at, support it with skilled hands-on therapy and practical education, and to create the conditions that allow your body – and your vagus nerve – to do what it’s naturally designed to do: heal.

Here are some of the ways we work with your body:

·        Reduce nerve tension

Reduce tension in the surrounding structures of the vagus nerve – known as its “mechanical interface” – to support healthy movement and function of the vagus nerve, reducing any compression or irritation.

·        Hands on techniques

Joint oscillation & neural mobilisations to gently calm the nervous system

Rhythmic rocking & massage to quiet the stress response

Specific work around the base of the skull to support the vagus nerves where they exit

·        Breathing for calm

Breathing techniques have been shown to increase vagus nerve activity. During your session, we may encourage slow, deep breaths to help your body drop into its rest-and-digest mode.

·        Stretches

Targeted stretching of neck muscles (like the scalenes & sternocleidomastoid muscles) can encourage the relaxation response and support freer nerve movement.

·        Personalised home care

We’ll give you simple, personalised tips and techniques to keep supporting your nervous system between sessions.

Simple ways to support your vagus nerve at home

With the vagus nerve involved in so many functions, there are a range of entry points we can use to influence it to help bring the body back towards nervous system balance. Here are a few simple ways to access your vagus nerve’s calming effects:

• Taking slow, intentional breaths with longer exhales
• Humming, singing or gargling
• Getting outside and standing barefoot on the grass or dirt for a few minutes
• Listening to music that feels soothing or uplifting
• Splashing cold water on your face or neck
• Enjoying a good laugh
• Slowing down your movements
• Taking part in exercise or movement you enjoy
• Enjoying a massage
• Receiving safe, nurturing touch from a loved one
• Doing a few minutes of self-abdominal massage to stimulate the vagus nerve to support digestion

When to book an appointment

You don’t need to be an athlete or injured to visit us. Soft Tissue Therapy can be a really supportive way to care for your overall wellbeing. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, having trouble sleeping, feeling stuck in ‘on’ mode, a session can help your system slow down and breathe. Massage therapy offers a wide range of benefits. It’s been shown to reduce cortisol and increase serotonin and dopamine, helping to regulate your nervous system and support healing. It’s a great tool to have in your wellbeing toolkit.