Transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation
Transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation: how an ear clip attached to a TENS machine can treat a variety of symptoms including obesity, insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes mellitus, inflammation, microbiome dysregulation, cardiovascular disease and depression
An innovative approach to modulating the autonomic nervous system to effectively treat a variety of symptoms including obesity, insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes mellitus, inflammation, microbiome dysregulation, cardiovascular disease and depression.
"Transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation"... no, I hadn't heard of it either until a few months ago:
I have been living with Long Covid for over three years now, and until recently I've been living with fatigue*, gastrointestinal distress, migraine, heart palpitations, allergies, memory issues, persistent cough... you get the gist, it's really REALLY sucked tbh.
When I was taken on by the NHS Long Covid Service, they explained that Long Covid is understood to be an imbalance in the Autonomic Nervous System - the sympathetic (fight/flight) branch gets stuck in overdrive and the parasympathetic (rest & digest / tend & befriend) branch isn't able to even up the imbalance.
When this imbalance goes on for a long time, this can lead to all kinds of unpleasant and scary effects on the brain and nervous system, energy metabolism, chronic inflammation, the heart and blood vessels, plus emotional and mental health concerns.
This is where the vagus nerve (the 10th and longest of the cranial nerves, with 80%–90% afferent fibres which relays information between the body and the brain) comes in, as it's a critical part of the of the parasympathetic branch's ability to maintain homeostasis - that is, to keep the body working in balance.
So, being the proud geek that I am, I did my research and found this webinar published by Dr. Groysman, MD of the Covid Institute titled 'Ultimate guide to vagus nerve stimulation' which shows instructions for using a TENS machine with ear clip and the protocol (links to the products I have utilised are at the bottom of this article) to do just that.
And now I feel HEAPS better! It's great!
So, of course it's outside of my remit to say what anyone else should do if they are living with Long Covid, PCOS, depression, obesity, post-stroke motor rehabilitation, cluster headaches or other whole body system inflammation related chronic conditions...
... so if you would like to find out more the evidence base to support this as a novel treatment for such health conditions, please get your research groove on (and you can use these links to recent papers to help you get started, if you like. You're Welcome 🙂).
[*author's note: fatigue is to 'feeling tired' what hurricanes are to 'a bit of wind']
Research and links:
Kim, A.Y., Marduy, A., de Melo, P.S. et al. Safety of transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS): a systematic review and meta-analysis. Sci Rep 12, 22055 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-25864-1
Austelle, C.W., Cox, S.S., Wills, K.E. et al. Vagus nerve stimulation (VNS): recent advances and future directions. Clin Auton Res 34, 529–547 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10286-024-01065-w: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10286-024-01065-w
Bonaz B, Sinniger V, Pellissier S. Anti-inflammatory properties of the vagus nerve: potential therapeutic implications of vagus nerve stimulation. J Physiol. 2016 Oct 15;594(20):5781-5790. doi: 10.1113/JP271539. Epub 2016 May 1. PMID: 27059884; PMCID: PMC5063949. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5063949/
Zhang, S., He, H., Wang, Y. et al. Transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation as a potential novel treatment for polycystic ovary syndrome. Sci Rep 13, 7721 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-34746-z https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-34746-z
David R. Van Wagoner, Chronic vagal nerve stimulation for the treatment of human heart failure: progress in translating a vision into reality, European Heart Journal, Volume 32, Issue 7, April 2011, Pages 788–790, https://doi.org/10.1093/eurheartj/ehq424
Amazon links to the kit I am using:
Med-Fit 1 Dual Channel TENS Machine for Pain Relief & Pain Management Therapy-Fully Certified Tens Machine CE2460: https://amzn.eu/d/5UG782j
Med-Fit TENS Machine Double Ear Clip – a Compact and Effective Solution for targeted Pain Relief and Relaxation: https://amzn.eu/d/gJSULdi