If you have had trouble sleeping, you may be willing to try anything. One option is icing your vagus nerve. Using an ice pack, you may be able to unlock better sleep with things in your own home. A new TikTok trends seems to be placing ice on your chest, which can help put you in a more relaxed state that can help you fall into a deep sleep.
Although you cannot believe everything you see on social media, there may be some science behind this hack. Cold therapy on the chest is supposed to stimulate the vagus nerve which is a cranial nerve that runs from the brainstem to the torso. This can help to regulate the body's parasympathetic nervous system (PNS).
The PNS is the "rest and digest" system responsible for putting the body in a calm state. After a stressful day where the fight or flight response is activated, this may be a useful trick to put your mind at ease enough for a good night's sleep.
Continue reading to learn if this trick is for you!
Vagus nerve and sleep
The vagus nerve is so long that it affects many organ systems in our body. The main thing to understand is that it is the primary drive of the parasympathetic nervous system. This system must be activated in order for us to achieve a good night's rest.
The PNS can lower your heart rate, constrict your pupils, and reduce the amount of light that enters your eyes. This is essential as lower light exposure increases the amount of melatonin released by the brain. Other important bodily changes include reducing the work of your lungs and creating an overall calmer state in your body. This all sets you up for a good night's rest.
The great thing about your PNS is that it is a part of your autonomic nervous system. This means that you don't have to do anything to make it function. You just have to be. But, sometimes, the sympathetic nervous system (which is activated in times of stress) is so overbearing, that the PNS doesn't have a chance to work as it should during the night.
The effectiveness of icing your vagus nerve
According to the experts, activating your vagus nerve through icing it could lead to potentially better sleep with the increased activity of the parasympathetic nervous system. By placing ice on your neck or chest, you could accomplish this. Although there is very little research to support this, one study found that applying something cold to the outside of the neck can slow down the heart race and increase vagal nerve activation.
Not only can the relaxing properties of the vagus nerve improve sleep, but vagus stimulation may be directly linked to the sleep-wake regulation of the brain. Stimulation of the vagus nerve is the mechanism of action in new implants used for the treatment of sleep apnea. Individuals with sleep apnea who have received the implant have significant improvement in their daytime sleepiness and a decrease in their REM sleep.
Direct nerve stimulation is used for the treatment of depression and to help with recovery after a stroke, but they are not yet approved for sleep problems like insomnia. Therefore, people who want to try this method must rely on hacks like using an ice pack. The unfortunate part about this method is that it is not very precise, so there is no guarantee that it will work the same way. This means that even if you are able to get the relaxation effect of triggering the vagus nerve, you may also activate some of its other functions like digestion.
However, this trick is overall very safe. The only thing to watch out for is frostbite. Don't leave the ice pack on for more than 20 minutes at a time to avoid freezing the skin!
Alternative techniques
If you are not into snuggling with ice, there are other techniques you can try to activate the vagus nerve and the PNS. You can try yoga and deep breathing exercise. They simulate the vagus nerve by stimulating organs controlled by the vagus nerve.
If your sleep problems are chronic and very disruptive to your life, then it may be necessary to speak to a sleep health professional. Please click the orange button below to take a free online sleep test and talk to one of the sleep health experts at our clinic!
https://www.sleep.com/sleep-health/vagus-nerve