Acupuncture, Vagal Tone & the Vagus Nerve
Acupuncture stimulates the vagus nerve and improves vagal tone (1)
The vagus nerve has become something of a wellness celebrity in recent years.
A quick search online will deliver endless advice on how to “stimulate your vagus nerve” — breathing techniques, humming, singing, cold plunges, gargling, meditation, supplements, nervous system hacks and more.
Some of it is useful. Some of it is oversimplified. Some of it is probably just good marketing.
Still, I understand why people are interested in it.
Because underneath the buzzword is something deeply relevant to modern life: many people feel stuck in survival mode. Wired, exhausted, inflamed, anxious, foggy, overwhelmed, flat, disconnected from their body, unable to properly rest.
And the vagus nerve sits right in the middle of that conversation.
What is the vagus nerve?
The vagus nerve is the main nerve of the parasympathetic nervous system — the branch of the nervous system associated with rest, digestion, recovery, repair and regulation.
It is the longest cranial nerve in the body, running from the brainstem down through the throat, heart, lungs and digestive organs. In fact, the name vagus comes from the Latin word for “wandering”.
Its job is not to magically cure illness. It is more like a communication highway between the brain and the internal organs.
The vagus nerve helps relay information about what is happening inside the body — heart rate, breathing, digestion, inflammation, immune activity, gut sensation — and helps coordinate the body’s response.
In simple terms, it plays an important role in helping the body shift out of prolonged stress physiology and into a state where healing, digestion and repair can occur.
The vagus nerve and the gut-brain axis
One of the reasons the vagus nerve receives so much attention is that it is deeply involved in the gut-brain axis.
The digestive system and the brain are constantly communicating through the nervous system, immune system, hormones, and gut microbiome—and the vagus nerve is one of the major pathways involved in this communication.
Research has found associations between altered vagal tone and conditions like IBS, inflammatory bowel disease, anxiety and depression (1a, 2, 3)
The gut also produces and regulates many neurotransmitters involved in mood and nervous system function, including serotonin, dopamine, GABA and glutamate.
Which is partly why stress can affect digestion so profoundly, and why digestive dysfunction can also influence mood, anxiety, cognition and energy.
Sometimes people are trying to “fix the gut” while the nervous system remains deeply dysregulated.
Unfortunately, probiotics alone cannot compensate for a body that does not feel physiologically safe.
What is vagal tone?
Vagal tone refers to the activity and responsiveness of the vagus nerve.
Generally speaking, higher vagal tone is associated with greater nervous system flexibility and resilience. A person can move into stress when needed, then recover appropriately afterwards.
This is important.
Because the goal is not to eliminate the sympathetic (“fight or flight”) response entirely. We need that response sometimes. Stress physiology helps us mobilise, act, protect ourselves and adapt.
The issue is when the nervous system loses flexibility and becomes stuck in prolonged sympathetic activation.
This can contribute to symptoms like:
anxiety and hypervigilance
shallow breathing
digestive dysfunction
IBS symptoms
muscle tension and chronic pain
fatigue and burnout
poor sleep
headaches and migraines
heart palpitations
increased inflammation
difficulty feeling calm or settled
Improving vagal tone is less about “forcing relaxation” and more about restoring responsiveness and adaptability within the nervous system.
Why does vagal tone matter?
It is not just about balancing the two branches of the nervous system. This is an oversimplification. And it is not about thinking of the sympathetic nervous system as the bad guy - it is not.
It is about bolstering the capacity for responsiveness. So that in any given moment, the nervous system can respond appropriately to a situation with either a stress (sympathetic) response or a rest (parasympathetic) response.
Improving vagal tone is about ensuring that the nervous system can respond appropriately from moment to moment. So that once a stressful event has passed, you can quickly switch back to a calm, restful, peaceful state. Things go awry with our health when we are ‘stuck’ in a sympathetic state for too long.
A loss of vagal tone (meaning a preponderance of sympathetic arousal) can result in:
• elevated heart rate
• increased BP
• diminished swallowing and gag reflex
• slowed peristalsis of the stomach and intestines (constipation)
• loss of pancreatic secretion of digestive enzymes (food sensitivities, difficulty digesting)
• decreased insulin and glucose regulation (poor blood sugar regulation)
• increased sympathetic activity fueling anxiety
• increased inflammation (via something called the “cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway”)
So how does acupuncture stimulate the vagus nerve?
Acupuncture has long been used to help regulate stress physiology, calm sympathetic overactivation and support the body’s natural regulatory mechanisms.
Emerging research suggests that acupuncture affects autonomic nervous system regulation, inflammatory pathways, heart rate variability and vagal activity.
In the clinic, this often looks less dramatic than the internet makes it sound.
People simply notice they can finally breathe deeply. Their digestion settles. Their shoulders drop. Their sleep improves. Pain reduces. They feel calmer, clearer, more emotionally regulated, and present in their body.
Not numb.
Not sedated.
Just… slowly shifting out of survival mode.
What does acupuncture treatment for the vagus nerve involve?
Treatment at Vessel Acupuncture & Chinese Medicine is always tailored to the individual.
We begin with a comprehensive intake, discussing your symptoms, health history, nervous system patterns, digestion, sleep, stress levels, pain presentation and overall health picture.
Treatment will involve acupuncture points on the body, the ear, and the head & neck, depending on your presentation and treatment goals. The location of the points corresponds to areas where the vagus nerve either surfaces, travels through, or communicates with.
Most people rest with the needles in for around 25–30 minutes and commonly report feeling calmer, heavier, more grounded or more settled afterwards.
Usually, meaningful change occurs through a series of treatments over time, rather than a single session.
Can Acupuncture help improve vagal tone?
Potentially, yes — particularly where stress physiology, autonomic dysregulation, pain, digestive dysfunction or chronic sympathetic activation are contributing factors (4, 5).
But it is important to avoid turning the vagus nerve into a trendy catch-all explanation for every symptom.
Health is complex. This is why working with AHPRA-registered, degree-qualified health care practitioners is so important.
The vagus nerve is part of a much bigger picture involving sleep, stress, trauma, inflammation, movement, nutrition, hormones, connection, environment, and overall physiological load.
Acupuncture is not about “hacking” the nervous system into submission.
At its best, it is about helping the body regain capacity for regulation, responsiveness and repair.
Ready to shift out of survival mode, out of fight-or-flight, and into parasympathetic?
Vessel Acupuncture in Paddington, Brisbane is a small team of degree-qualified Chinese Medicine Practitioners & Acupuncturists. We are available 6 days a week, and we welcome you to book your first appointment online.
REFERENCES
1. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666501820300738
1a. Bonaz, B., et al. (2018). "The Vagus Nerve at the Interface of the Microbiota-Gut-Brain Axis." Front Neurosci 12: 49.
2. Clapp, M., Aurora, N., Herrera, L., Bhatia, M., Wilen, E., & Wakefield, S. (2017). Gut microbiota's effect on mental health: The gut-brain axis. Clinics and practice, 7(4), 987. https://doi.org/10.4081/cp.2017.987
3. Chen, Y., Xu, J., & Chen, Y. (2021). Regulation of Neurotransmitters by the Gut Microbiota and Effects on Cognition in Neurological Disorders. Nutrients, 13(6), 2099. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu13062099
4. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666501820300738
5. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3523683/