As a woman who’s constantly on-the-go, regulating my nervous system is key for my well-being. So, when I first heard about vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) and its potential benefits for physical and mental health, I knew I had to try it out. Stimulating your vagus nerve has been known to help with mood, sleep, and mental clarity (sign me up!). But what does VNS involve? And more importantly, does it really live up to the hype?
Quick 101: The vagus nerve starts at your brainstem, has many branches, and extends from the brain, down the sides of your neck, to your abdomen (“vagus” literally means “wander” in Latin), says physiatrist Jennifer Hankenson, MD, the program director of physical medicine and rehabilitation at Yale New Haven Medical Center. It’s a key part of your parasympathetic nervous system, which is responsible for helping your body “rest and digest,” she says. This “relaxation” function is why VNS is known for helping you stay calm and even give you a sense of safety. Although your vagus nerve is constantly active, stimulating it may enhance its calming effects, Dr. Hankenson says.
Meet the experts: Jennifer Hankenson, MD, is a physiatrist and the program director of physical medicine and rehabilitation at Yale New Haven Medical Center and volunteer leader of The American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (AAPM&R). Raj Dasgupta, MD, is the associate program director of internal medicine residency at Huntington Memorial Hospital and chief medical advisor at Garage Gym Reviews.
There are a few different ways to do so: You can stimulate your vagus nerve naturally through practices like humming, mindful breathing, and even cold therapy, per 2023 research in Cureus and 2021 research in Scientific Reports. Implantable VNS devices have been FDA-approved for conditions including epilepsy, depression, and migraines, and now, at-home vagal nerve stimulators are emerging as a way to care for your wellness on your own. These non-invasive handheld devices from brands like Truvaga and Pulsetto send mild electrical pulses to your vagus nerve with the promise to keep your nervous system balanced.
To see if these at-home vagal nerve stimulators might actually do anything, I tested the Truvaga Plus VNS device everyday for two weeks to see if it had any effects on my mood, sleep, and mental health. I also got the lowdown from doctors about the pros, cons, and tips for VNS. All your VNS Qs answered ahead.
At the end of the first week, I noticed I slept better, my mood was brighter, and I performed better during workouts.
While Truvaga recommends doing a sesh twice a day (i.e. morning and night), I thought once a day was perfect for my lifestyle, so I used it every morning during breakfast. I found the Truvaga Plus pretty straightforward to use. The device is controlled through an app, which has an easy start-up guide and walkthrough that showed me how to lead my own VNS session.
Truvaga recommended locating my pulse on the side of my neck—the vagus nerve runs right below that. In the app, I clicked “begin session” and chose my preferred goal for the day from options including sleep, mood, mental clarity, and physical performance. I found myself gravitating toward mood, sleep, and physical performance.
My sessions lasted two minutes before the device stopped automatically. (Note: Although the sessions are capped at just two minutes, Truvaga says it’s safe to use it for up to 24 sessions per day.)
The Truvaga Plus is a handheld vagus nerve stimulation device. It comes with a charger and a spray bottle of solution to prep your skin.
Because I’m new to the whole VNS thing, the idea of physically stimulating a nerve inside my body made me a little nervous at first. (Truvaga also says you may experience a side effect of “lip pull” muscle contraction—literally a downward pull on your lip—which is apparently normal and a sign that you’re in the correct position, but just the thought of it freaked me out.) However, with the option of choosing your level of stimulation (one to 10), I figured I could take things slow, and started at level one.
I couldn’t really feel anything at first, but over the next few days, I increased it to level two and three, after which I felt a minor tingling sensation. Eventually, I increased it to level four, which was my sweet spot, since the stimulation felt comfortable there. (Truvaga says levels four to seven are the ideal range for most people.) The stimulation itself felt like a warm tingle, but it wasn’t uncomfortable or painful.
For the first two days of the experiment, I chose “sleep” as my intended goal. And after the first few days, I noticed I was sleeping incredibly well. I’m usually a night owl who can’t wind down, but most nights, I fell asleep easier and stayed asleep for eight hours uninterrupted, according to my Oura ring.
On day three when I selected “mood” as my goal, I ended up feeling genuinely uplifted—I walked a few miles, had a solid Lagree workout, and felt more motivated than usual to get some freelance writing work done. I recall telling a friend it was the best day I’d had in a while, all while forgetting that “mood” was my intention for the day.
Another major change I noticed during week one was how motivated and physically strong I felt overall. Although I only chose “physical performance” as my goal twice, I went from doing one short walk a day, to walking a few miles every morning and attending high-intensity Lagree classes consistently. I even did my first-ever strength training session with a personal trainer, and managed to do a bunch of challenging leg exercises like back squats and Bulgarian split squats, without feeling fatigued afterward. I hadn’t initially considered that my physical performance would improve with the VNS experiment, but I loved noticing how my body felt during my workouts all week: I felt energetic, powerful, and capable.
By the end of the second week, I noticed deeper sleep and a sharper mental focus.
I continued to select “sleep” for my goal most days, and I don’t know if it’s the VNS device, the fact that I’ve been working out more often (and more intensely!) lately, or even just the fact that I was intentionally doing something to improve it, but my sleep was out of this world during week two.
Every night, I had deep, uninterrupted sleep without tossing and turning (and I even had more vivid dreams). When I looked at my Oura ring data from the week, I got seven to nine hours of sleep every night, more deep sleep, and my combination of sleep stats (total duration, deep sleep, REM, and sleep efficiency) was marked “Optimal” in the Oura app for five out of the seven days. The numbers didn’t lie—I felt significantly more well-rested than usual.
Here’s a real screenshot of the app when I was using it for one of my sessions. It’s easy to choose your level of intensity and it’s cool that the device syncs to the app that easily.
Another one of the purported benefits of VNS is better brain health, and some research shows it may hold promise for improving neuroplasticity. While it’s hard to measure that benefit in the short-term, I’ll admit, I did feel pretty sharp during week two. I attended multiple meetings, interviews, writing deadlines, and workshops throughout the week—all while keeping up with my daily workouts—and I felt more energized, motivated, and excited to tackle the day. Of course, it’s hard to say whether this newfound focus was from VNS or me just having a good week—but I do think carving out a few minutes for myself every morning to use the device helped me prep for the week in a calmer, more grounded way.
Overall, this was a fun experiment and I was surprised at the positive changes I saw in my mind and body. I didn’t really expect to see any dramatic differences, and of course, it’s difficult to say whether these positive changes were due to the VNS device or the placebo effect. But after tracking my workouts, mood, and seeing my sleep stats, I’m pretty optimistic that the vagus nerve deserves more hype.
What Experts Think About Vagus Nerve Stimulation Devices
Are VNS devices legit? As for the FDA-approved ones—which are implanted in your chest by a surgeon—yes, says Dr. Hankenson. This type of treatment has been approved for treating seizures and refractory depression (also known as “treatment-resistant” depression—that’s when at least two antidepressants aren’t enough to manage the condition, per the Cleveland Clinic). It may also be an emerging treatment for post-stroke patients who have experienced some loss of upper extremity function, Dr. Hankenson says.
The tricky part is figuring out whether or not non-implantable devices have the same impact as implantable ones—which will require a lot more research, says Dr. Hankenson. “We have to wait and have these devices tested by a third party, or gather multiple studies to see if they all hold the same strength and value. That’s something we haven’t yet seen for some of these non-invasive home devices,” Dr. Hankenson says.
Dr. Dasgupta agrees. “Early studies hint VNS could be helpful for things like Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s, but most of that potential is still being explored in research, so it’s too soon to call it a sure thing,” he says.
Even if VNS does have real benefits, it’s not a cure for these conditions, he says, and it should be used alongside standard medical care. “These devices aren’t magic fixes, and we still need more independent research to fully understand their long-term effects,” Dr. Dasgupta says.
So while VNS probably shouldn’t be your first line of defense for any serious mental or physical health issues, it might be worth considering if you’re otherwise healthy and cleared by your doctor to try a device.
How To Use An At-Home Vagal Nerve Stimulation Device
There’s no perfectly-defined method here, and it hasn’t been well-documented how often, or how intensely, you should be stimulating your vagus nerve with at-home devices, says Dr. Hankenson. “If you’re just starting out, it’s appropriate to use once a day at the lower settings and see how you do,” she says. If you’re not seeing any adverse effects and you’re feeling good overall, you can increase it to two times a day. Then, try it consistently for two to three weeks.
If you’re experiencing mild symptoms (like low energy or bad sleep), it’s likely safe to keep using the device after those two to three weeks. Over time, you may find that you don’t need to use it as regularly, or you only use it when you notice symptoms returning, Dr. Hankenson says. But because there’s no gold standard for how long you should use an at-home device, it’s best to check with your healthcare provider and get their input on the ideal frequency and length of use for you, she says.
There are some potential risks to be aware of, though. Anyone who has heart irregularities, arrhythmias (abnormal rhythms), and/or a pacemaker should probably steer clear since VNS devices can interfere with your heart rate, says Dr. Hankenson. Anyone with blockages in the arteries should also exercise caution. “Anything that can disrupt plaque in that area could increase the risk of a stroke or a neurologic event,” she says.
Even if you’re perfectly healthy, using a VNS may be off-putting and cause mild side effects—like muscle twitching, headache, and/or mild dizziness—but this usually only happens while you’re using the device and disappears shortly after the session, per Truvaga. “While side effects are usually mild, like tingling or lightheadedness, it’s still a medical device, so using it with care makes sense,” Dr. Dasgupta says.
Who Should Try An At-Home Vagal Nerve Stimulation Device
There’s no black-and-white answer for who “qualifies” as a good candidate for an at-home VNS device, but it could be beneficial if you struggle with stress, anxiety, digestive issues, and/or difficulty sleeping, says Dr. Hankenson.
If you have any of the above challenges, it’s always best to try to treat them without a VNS device first (especially given the high price tag of many at-home devices). But if you want to try an at-home device, it could be worth exploring—as long as you’re using it in tandem with a broader wellness routine that includes good sleep habits, regular movement, and therapy,” Dr. Dasgupta says.
At the end of the day, though, “you don’t need a gadget to support your vagus nerve,” he says. First, try regulating your nervous system through lifestyle changes and healthy stress management practices, and you’ll likely see similar benefits.
And the best part is, natural methods are free.
Tianna is the former associate health and wellness editor at Women’s Health. Her writing on wellness and relationships has been featured in Cosmopolitan, Elite Daily, Glamour, mindbodygreen, and more. She holds a M.A. in clinical psychology in education from Columbia University and is a certified yoga instructor. When she’s not writing, you can find her traveling, trying new workout classes, and speaking with audiences about mental health.
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