Nervous System & Vagus Nerve Dysfunction

Vagus Nerve Stimulation and Healing through Frequency Specific Microcurrent – Address the Root Causes of Vagus Nerve Dysfunction

Vagus nerve dysfunction can manifest in numerous ways. While you may have tried different methods to heal your vagus nerve, many people come to work with us because, despite their great efforts, they haven't noticed significant improvements in their vagal tone. At The Healing Collective, Dr. Madelyn  is a Doctor of Physical Therapy specializing in vagus nerve stimulation and healing, including Frequency Specific Microcurrent (FSM), visceral manipulation, and functional mobilization. Her therapy methods facilitate exceptional results for clients who have struggled with various symptoms and conditions related to vagus nerve dysfunction. 

Have you tried the recommended vagal toning strategies like gargling, cold plunges, massage, breathwork, and probiotics but just don’t seem to be getting better? You aren’t getting results because you need a root cause approach to vagus nerve healing.

If you have an underlying infection, no amount of cold exposure will re-activate your vagus nerve in a lasting or meaningful way. If you have unresolved trauma, gargling just isn’t going to cut it. Adhesions and scarring along the vagus distribution due to chronic inflammation don't just go away on their own. The Healing Collective is here to help.

What Is Vagus Nerve Dysfunction?

As one of the most important aspects of the nervous system, the vagus nerve has a significant role in regulating the autonomic or automatic bodily functions. It drives the rest, digest, feed, and breed phases of life essential to all humans. Vagal tone helps the body feel safe and regulated. When the vagus nerve is impacted by infection, stress, or trauma, it's functions suffer. As a result, this vagal disruption causes the body’s stress response to take center stage. What ensues is a vicious cycle of stress, leading to more dysregulation, leading to even more stress.

Because the vagus nerve regulates inflammation in the body, when it is downregulated, inflammation proliferates. The nerve is what people refer to in the "gut-brain axis," and provides a very influential link between the brain and gut, connecting to many digestion-related organs. 

Vagus nerve dysfunction plays a significant role in numerous chronic conditions, including:

• GI problems such as constipation, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), and GERD (acid reflux)
• Cardiovascular conditions, such as A-fIB (atrial fibrillation), heart palpitations, abnormal heart rate, and congestive heart failure
• Respiratory issues, such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
• Post-COVID and Long COVID
• Anxiety, panic disorder, PTSD, insomnia, and epilepsy
• Night terrors
• Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and concentration issues
• Memory loss
• Depression
• Headaches and migraines 
• Tinnitus
• Cold hands and feet
• Autoimmune conditions
  

• Low or high blood pressure
• Chronic pain
• Muscle tension
• Obesity
• Dizziness
• Eating disorders
• Swallowing difficulty or discomfort 
• Hoarse voice or loss of voice
• Detoxification disorder
• Epstein-Barr virus
• Lyme disease
• Multiple Sclerosis
• Eye and facial tension
• Fertility challenges
• Hormone imbalances
• Loss of libido
• Chronic infections
• Thyroid disorders
• And many more conditions

You may experience vagus nerve dysfunction from having small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) for a long time. Or it may be a result of emotional or physical trauma. Even something like a sports injury can negatively impact the vagus nerve so that something acute turns chronic and the body is unable to facilitate the rest, digest, feed, and breed functions. You need an intervention to reboot your nervous system and get the vagus functioning again, and that’s Dr. Madelyn's specialty.

Vagus Nerve Dysfunction Testing

Because vagus nerve dysfunction is common and an underlying component of many health and wellness conditions, Dr. Madelyn screens and tests her clients for it regularly at The Healing Collective. Her testing process involves:

• A detailed questionnaire
• Cranial nerve testing 
• Functional testing
• Palpation
• Heart rate variability monitoring through HeartMath BioFeedback tools

Through the screening process, Dr. Madelyn can identify lesions, adhesions, and scarring along the vagus nerve and surrounding tissues causing the dysfunction. If there are no mechanical issues, she looks deep into the patient history to uncover infection or trauma. Dr. Madelyn also teaches clients to perform self-tests to see where they are on a given day, empowering them to do as much as possible to promote healing and track for themselves how much the interventions are helping.

Vagus Nerve Dysfunction Treatment

Dr. Madelyn's approach to vagus nerve dysfunction treatment focuses on the root cause, which aligns with Functional Medicine as a whole. She has access to an effective tool that has clinically demonstrated the ability to elicit significant improvements: Frequency Specific Microcurrent (FSM). 

FSM is a non-invasive and painless modality that addresses the root cause of the dysfunction using a mild, low-level electrical current. These microcurrents are the same kind of currents your body naturally produces within each cell. FSM has the potential to deliver near-immediate and significant changes in the vagus nerve, which we can track via heart rate variability (HRV) monitoring. 

When using FSM, Dr. Madelyn can get real-time feedback to know if it’s working. Your pulse will drop, your blood pressure will lower, and you will feel calmer and more relaxed. She has helped her clients experience exceptional results with FSM, using a frequency to improve vagal tone and upregulate the nerve’s function. Through FSM and other modalities, she can also quiet the sympathetic nervous system and boost the parasympathetic nervous system to facilitate better resolution of vagus nerve dysfunction. 

To complement and enhance FSM treatments, Dr. Madelyn performs a very unique and innovative therapy called functional mobilization. During this process, she mobilizes the vagus nerve in its sheath to clear adhesions with her hands. Releasing these adhesions eliminates blocks along the nerve flow and allows the vagus nerve to function optimally again. The instant results tend to be very dramatic for patients.

Dr. Madelyn is also trained in visceral manipulation to mobilize all the organs that the vagus nerve touches. It enables her to bring the organs back to life, so the vagus nerve receives the appropriate inputs and can communicate effectively with all of its target organs, from the esophagus, stomach, and intestines to the liver, gallbladder, pancreas, adrenals, and more.

Do You Need Healing for Vagus Nerve Dysfunction?

LEARN MORE about vagus nerve dysfunction and the effective treatment options available from Dr. Madelyn at The Healing Collective. Or schedule a free 15-minute consultation for her in-person, telemedicine, or health coaching services to help resolve your vagus nerve dysfunction.