The Vagus Nerve

The vagal nerves carry signals between your brain, heart and digestive system.

Author

Noel O’Shea
April 26, 2024

In today’s newsletter, I am writing about the vagus nerve. The first part of the article will explain what the vagus nerve is, how it works and some conditions and issues that people may experience if the vagus nerve is not functioning properly. In the second part of this newsletter, I will write about some business opportunities I learned from Trends Journal about caring for the vagus nerve.

What is the Vagus Nerve?

The vagus nerve, also known as the vagal nerves, are the main nerves of your parasympathetic nervous system. This system controls specific body functions such as digestion, heart rate and immune system. These functions are involuntary, meaning you can’t consciously control them.

Your left and right vagal nerves contain 75% of your parasympathetic nervous system’s nerve fibres. These fibres send information between your brain, heart and digestive system.

The vagus nerves are the 10th of 12 cranial nerves. The vagus is known as cranial nerve X, the Roman numeral for 10.

  • Gastroparesis is a condition where the vagus nerve damage prevents food from moving from the stomach to the intestines, often caused by factors like diabetes, viral infections, and abdominal surgery.

  • Vasovagal syncope, characterized by fainting, can occur when the vagus nerve overreacts to triggers such as extreme heat, anxiety, or stress, leading to a rapid drop in blood pressure.

  • Symptoms of vagus nerve issues can vary and may include abdominal pain, acid reflux, heart rate irregularities, difficulty swallowing, dizziness, hoarseness, loss of appetite, nausea, and vomiting.

  • Vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) involves implanting a device to send electrical signals through the left vagus nerve to the brain, helping to regulate brain activity. It is FDA-approved for epilepsy and treatment-resistant depression.

  • Diagnostic tests for vagus nerve disorders may include CT scans, MRIs, echocardiograms, gastric emptying studies, smart pill tests, and upper endoscopies.

  • Treatments for gastroparesis can involve dietary changes, medications, feeding tubes, gastrostomy procedures, and gastric electrical stimulation similar to VNS.

  • Treatments for vasovagal syncope may include dietary adjustments, medication changes, compression stockings, and interventions to regulate blood pressure and fluid levels.

Caring for your vagus nerve can be big business

That sinking feeling in your stomach when you’re nervous? 😣

It’s the doing of your vagus nerve – or “wandering nerve” – a highway in the human body that connects to almost every internal organ.

It lets your brain talk to your gut (hence the stomach churn) but also regulates your digestion, heart rate, breathing, and a heck lot of other things.

As folks prioritize their mind-body connection, vagus nerve care is getting a good share of Internet attention: 

“Vagus nerve exercise” gets 185m+ views on TikTok“Vagus nerve stimulation” gets 54k searches/mo, per AhrefsAmazon’s bestselling stimulator raked in $1m+ last month

The global vagus nerve stimulation market is worth ~$483m in 2023 and is set to exceed $1B by 2031.

 

Some opportunities to cash in on the rising awareness of vagus nerve care:  

 

Specialty spa experience

 

The $21B+ medical spa market can be a solid investment and a good fit for vagus nerve care. 

 

Single-location spas get an average of ~$2m in ARR, with a 20%-25% profit margin. On average, a medical spa owner can make $300k – $375k a year. 

 

You can incorporate vagus nerve massages or non-invasive stimulation into existing spa experiences, and market this feature to draw in more customers. 

 

If a spa is too costly to start, you can also become a certified specialist in vagal toning – aka using the activity of the vagus nerve to improve overall health – for $599. 

 

Content and product curation 

 

This YouTuber focuses on nervous system healing and pain relief, and her most viewed videos are all about the vagus nerve – the highest being a vagus nerve exercise tutorial that got 6.8m views.

 

Don’t limit yourself to video tutorials – it can be as simple as curating a music playlist, like this video that gets 1.4m views on YouTube. 

 

Or, use content as the funnel to an e-commerce offering, like a “vagus nerve self-care kit” that includes: 

Vagal massage gadgets – e.g. the ZenBud headset Books on taking care of your nervous systemSnacks and supplements rich with Omega-3 fatty acids (good for the vagus nerve)

The supplement piece can stand on its own, too — almost ​​40% of supplement takers are early adopter-types eager to try the newest thing, and vagus nerve support will play well in this crowd. 

 

Take a page out of Hims’ playbook and white label vagus nerve supplements with your own branding. 

Hope you enjoyed this explanation of the vagus nerve and how caring for it is a big business that seems like it is going to grow in the coming years.

Thank you for reading.

Noel

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