vagus nerve

Trish22
Trish22 Member Posts: 11
in Living with arthritis

does anyone have any information, view, thoughts about how the vagus nerve impacts osteoarthritis, if at all?

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  • Arthuritis
    Arthuritis Member Posts: 549
    edited 4. Apr 2025, 16:16

    @Trish22 I don’t know about Osteo, although it does have an element of inflammation, but in rheumatoid arthritis it is well documented that signals from the splenic branch of the vagus nerve suppress inflammation sufficiently to act as an alternative to RA drugs.
    The foremost research in this, Dr Kevin Tracey is trialling an electronic pacemaker surgically implanted to restore mobility to RA sufferers for whom DMARDs are not an option. This came about after a big success with one patient who went from wheel chair to gym. However as an expensive surgical treatment it’s not really a practical option for most.

    There are people claiming to have devices to stimulate the vagus via the ear, however I don’t think there is any large study showing they work.

    The vagus nerve meanders all over the body to various organs, and it’s the splenic one that matters, you don’t want to stimulate everything from ear down! It’s also hard to get that stimulus just right.

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