Does Vagus Nerve Stimulation Heal Trauma? (NO.) 🧠
Why “hacking” your vagus nerve won’t save you... (7min Read)
TL;DR
Vagus nerve hacks (humming, cold water, etc.) work in the moment — but they don’t heal trauma.
If you don’t address the root wounds, dysregulation just comes back stronger.
Polyvagal theory is useful — but it’s more metaphor than magic.
The vagus nerve does a lot (digestion, heart rate, immune function) but it’s not the CEO of your trauma recovery.
Hacks = relief, not resolution. Real healing = deeper trauma work + new actions + identity shifts.
The vagus nerve isn’t your savior.
The Vagus Nerve is Not Your Savior
Let’s get this out of the way: the vagus nerve is not a magic trauma wand.
If I see one more Instagram reel promising that gargling water or humming for 30 seconds will cure your panic attacks forever, I might just scream.
And yes, screaming would technically stimulate my vagus nerve, but no, Karen, it won’t heal my childhood attachment trauma.
Here’s the problem: when you oversimplify neuroscience into cute little “hacks,” you don’t just misinform people.
You give them false hope. You set them up for disappointment.
And you make trauma recovery look like a TikTok challenge instead of the slow, messy, layered process that it is.
And I’m not just ranting for fun here.
I have a unique lens with a degree in cognitive neuroscience AND training in a type of trauma therapy called Internal Family Systems.
I work with people every single day who beat themselves up because they tried all the “nervous system hacks” they saw on Instagram… and when the panic came back, they thought it meant they were broken.
You’re not broken. You’ve just been misinformed.
Let’s break it down.
The Problem With the Vagus Nerve Obsession
But wait… Doesn’t vagus nerve stimulation work, Cody?
Great question, yes, it does… Acutely.
Stimulating the vagus nerve (through breathwork, cold exposure, humming, whatever) can flip the switch out of fight-or-flight and help your body downshift into parasympathetic mode.
That’s useful. It’s real. There’s good research on it.
But here’s the catch: if you’re only calming the symptom without addressing the root cause, the dysregulation doesn’t disappear.
It waits. And often, it comes back louder.
Think of it like hitting “snooze” on your trauma alarm clock.
You bought yourself nine minutes of quiet, but the alarm will blare again and often, with more intensity.
Why?
Because your nervous system is trying to tell you something.
Suppress the message without addressing the wound, and the body just shouts louder.
So, where did this obsession even come from?
Enter: polyvagal theory. In the 1990s, Dr. Stephen Porges proposed a framework for understanding how the vagus nerve is involved in safety, connection, and shutdown.
Brilliant. Revolutionary. Incredibly useful.
But here’s what happened: wellness culture took one slice of polyvagal theory and turned it into a meme.
Suddenly, the vagus nerve became the Beyoncé of the nervous system, center stage, worshipped, idolized.
Forget the prefrontal cortex, forget the amygdala, forget the default mode network.
Who cares about decades of trauma research when we can just “stimulate our vagus nerve” and call it a day?
What Polyvagal Theory Actually Says (And Doesn’t)
Polyvagal theory was a brilliant leap; it proposed that we don’t just have “fight or flight” vs. “rest and digest.”
Instead, the vagus nerve mediates nuanced states: social engagement, mobilization, and immobilization.
That framework helps therapists and clients map experiences of shutdown, hyperarousal, and safety.
It’s a metaphorical lens that makes sense of lived experience.
But here’s the rub: the research support is mixed. Some elements are well-studied (like vagal tone and HRV as markers of resilience).
Others, like the strict hierarchy of states (Calm, Stress, Shutdown), are more conceptual than hard neuroscience.
And that’s okay. The problem isn’t polyvagal theory itself.
The problem is when wellness culture turns metaphor into gospel and sells you “vagal hacks” as a cure-all.
What the Vagus Nerve Actually Does (and Doesn’t Do)
Let’s zoom out for a second.
The vagus nerve isn’t just the “safety switch” of polyvagal theory.
It’s a sprawling superhighway of communication between your brain and body.
It regulates:
Heart rate and variability (your cardiovascular rhythms)
Digestion (yep, gut-brain connection is vagus nerve territory)
Inflammation and immune function
Respiration patterns
And yes, aspects of social engagement and safety states
The vagus nerve is important. But it’s not the CEO of your trauma recovery.
Think of it like the Wi-Fi router in your house.
Yes, it connects a lot of systems.
Yes, when it glitches, things feel chaotic.
But does the Wi-Fi router alone run your whole household?
Nope. You’ve still got the appliances, the people, the messy relationship dynamics that no amount of router-resetting will fix.
Same with your brain and body. Trauma is stored in networks.
Amygdala hyperactivation, hippocampal fragmentation, prefrontal suppression, HPA axis dysregulation, and so much more.
Stimulating one nerve is not going to untangle all of that.
Why Oversimplification Is Dangerous
Why does this matter?
Because hacks feel safe. They’re simple. They’re controllable.
They promise relief without having to wade through the swamp of old wounds.
If someone tells you, “Hey, do this breathing trick and your panic will disappear,” of course, you’re going to try it.
But if you only use vagus nerve hacks, you’re essentially managing symptoms while avoiding the wound.
The dysregulation keeps returning.
And every time it does, your inner critic whispers: See? Even your nervous system doesn’t trust you.
I see this in my own clients and people who comment and DM me on social media.
Meanwhile, therapists and coaches who should know better continue to parrot these “hacks” because they’re easy to sell.
They get clicks. They sound sexy. But they’re misleading.
This is why I tell clients: use the hacks, but don’t worship them.
They’re tools, not treatment. Relief, not resolution.
The Better Path (What I Tell Clients)
I had a client the other day who said, “I’ve been humming every morning for months, but I still feel stuck in freeze. What’s wrong with me?”
Nothing is wrong with her.
She’s human, and healing is not a TikTok trend.
What works is nuanced.
It’s learning to build safety in relationships with yourself AND others.
It’s integrating the mind-body system, not just stimulating one nerve.
It’s processing trauma through therapies like IFS, EMDR, somatic experiencing, modalities that actually help your brain and body reorganize.
Yes, vagal toning can support regulation. Yes, it’s useful.
But it’s a supportive practice, not a magic bullet.
The real work is layered: nervous system, biochemical, cognition, relational repair, and meaning-making.
Practical Tips (Without the Magic Wand)
So instead of “hacking” your vagus nerve like it’s Candy Crush, here’s what actually helps.
Stop chasing hacks. Start building practices. Consistency beats novelty every time.
Think networks, not nerves. Healing is about how brain regions and body systems integrate, not about flipping one “switch.”
Do the deeper trauma work. Untangle the memories, beliefs, and protective parts keeping your system stuck.
Create new actions. Your nervous system learns safety not by theory, but by lived experience. Safe connections. Braver choices. Consistency.
Rebuild identity. Healing isn’t just calming your body; it’s becoming someone new, someone who can regulate, connect, and thrive.
Use vagal practices wisely. Breathwork, cold exposure, humming? Keep them in your toolkit, but let them be support, not salvation.
Focus on safety and connection. The fastest way to regulate your nervous system? Safe, attuned relationships. That’s polyvagal theory’s actual point.
Creating Lasting Change
Your healing is not limited to how well you can gargle salt water.
Your nervous system is not broken because vagus hacks didn’t fix you.
You’re not failing. You’re evolving.
Lasting change happens when you combine nervous system tools with deeper trauma work, relational repair, and the courageous act of becoming someone new.
That’s not a hack. That’s transformation.
So by all means, hum, breathe, splash, gargle. But don’t stop there.
The vagus nerve isn’t your magic wand.
You are.
Until next time… Live Heroically! 🧠
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Supporting Research
Porges, S. W. (1995). Orienting in a defensive world: Mammalian modifications of our evolutionary heritage. Psychophysiology, 32(4), 301–318.
Thayer, J. F., & Lane, R. D. (2000). A model of neurovisceral integration in emotion regulation and dysregulation. Journal of Affective Disorders, 61(3), 201–216.
Koenig, J., Kemp, A. H., Beauchaine, T. P., Thayer, J. F., & Kaess, M. (2016). Depression and resting state heart rate variability in children and adolescents—A systematic review and meta-analysis. Clinical Psychology Review, 46, 136–150.
Dana, D. (2018). The Polyvagal Theory in Therapy: Engaging the Rhythm of Regulation. New York: W.W. Norton.
The number of people who need to read this article! I have struggled with the "hacks" I keep seeing online. Because of them, I have had people ask me why my journey is taking so long. I'm not doing things properly. I get sent reels and clips, etc, and it does my head in. Trying to explain that healing is not a one-size-fits-all and there is no magic button has become something I absolutely detest. If there were a magic button, I'd pay good money to press it! This is exhausting work! Sorry.. I ended up having a mini-rant, but what I wanted to say was, "Great article."
This fantastic article leaves me feeling... gosh, so many things. Seen. Supported. Vindicated. But also angry over the years I have spent shouting about so much of what you've written here, with other people staring at me uncomprehendingly, not understanding what I'm trying to say about all the deep work that's needed to directly address the underlying wound. (Including taking seriously the incredibly harmful ***doctrines*** of the sect I grew up in, which assume libertarian free will. Don't get me started on the ridiculousness of "free will.")
I grew up in a dogmatic authoritarian sect that practiced powerful mind control techniques, which worshipped a tool to achieve salvation instead of giving everyone the latitude to work out for themself, on their own terms, what the meaning is to them as to the message about salvation "for" or "from" what, in the first place. There was a tremendous amount of cruelty, domineering posturing, attempts to shame, terrify and control--including claims made about people's supposed ability to "just get saved." (And now, today, my secular friends can't figure out why I keep grinding on all this, why I can't just use some nice shortcut such as hacking my vagus nerve to "just snap out of it.")
Spiritual bypassing everywhere I looked, back then, during my sect days. And tons of now today, but coming from the secular crowd. Just put an ice pack on your chest. Just do this humming technique. What have you.
In my childhood, no relationships were safe, least of all any relationship I might try to cultivate with myself. Now today, I am struggling to have the courage to be vulnerable (but not to an inappropriate way--great post on that, too, Cody!) to demonstrate to my parts this is a "we" thing and we can do this. I am trying to demonstrate to my parts, though experiments in daily living, that to pursue healing, including healing in relation (internally and with external others) not only does not constitute self-worship, it is the most powerful way to use that router (the vagus nerve) to establish and maintain communication among my parts and me, learn new skills, undergo an identity shift. But it takes time. There's multiple facets to it.
I feel compassion for all of us on this parameter of how our brains love shortcuts. Of course. Wouldn't that be great if there were a switch (e.g. the vagus nerve) we could throw, and by getting the router reset, all our trauma would have gotten cleared out?
I just hate interacting with people when I feel as though they believe there are these quick and easy hacks and that I am just not trying hard enough to find the right hack or that I found the right hack but I'm "not using it right." No! Sorry, people. I need to take the time to address the core wounds. No more saviorhood mentality (i.e. this or that hack is the savior that will save us) and spiritual bypassing and dissociating my way out of doing the deep work that's actually needed, here. That's not how I'm playing this. Not anymore.
And for me the deep work today includes doing something that makes all my fundamentalist family members really, really uncomfortable: delving into what were TOXIC sect doctrines in the first place, those doctrines being the foundation of the beliefs most of my parts still subscribe to. It takes time and a slow building of trust between my parts and me.
This is ridiculously rambling. Apologies. Thank you, Cody, for this excellent post.