Whether it's a new notification on our phones, the next meeting to make, the next coffee cup of the day, or the next post to see, modern life is pretty fast-paced. From waking up in the morning until our head hits the pillow at night, many people consistently find themselves in an alert daytime go-getter mindset. While practical and necessary for everyday life, we can't spend all our daytime hours in this alert state. Also known as sympathetic overdrive, this inability to unwind when needed can lead to problems like excess stress, anxiety, pain, and difficulty sleeping. For optimal health, we need to balance the sympathetic system's "fight or flight" mode and the parasympathetic system's "rest and digest" mode.
Of course, people also experience stress, anxiety, pain, or sleep issues independent of their daytime habits or mindsets, and many people are perfectly content where they are. Wherever you may fall, tools like the Pulsetto Vagus Nerve Stimulator can help anyone achieve the desired state that their brain and body need. The Pulsetto can also complement other common practices that balance and activate the parasympathetic rest-and-digest state, like long exhale breathing and winding down before bed. Whether it's relaxation, calmness, better sleep, or decreased pain, the Pulsetto Vagus Nerve Stimulation device can help in just a few minutes.
Table of Contents:
What is the Pulsetto Vagus Nerve Stimulator?
The Pulsetto is more than just a device; it's a natural and holistic solution to your stress, anxiety, pain, and sleep issues. Worn around the neck, it gently administers safe electrical impulses to the vagus nerve, opening the portal to relaxation and ease of mind via the parasympathetic nervous system. It's a non-invasive and holistic neuromodulation device designed to bring you relief in the most natural and safe way possible.
What is the Vagus Nerve?
The vagus nerve, often called the body's information highway, is key to our health. It is the tenth cranial nerve, one of the longest in the body, connecting to every major organ and branches off into both the right and left side of the neck. Its responsibilities include regulating parasympathetic nervous system activity, immune system functions, and digestion. A common misconception about the vagus nerve is that it only includes inducing calming and relaxing states. While true, psychiatrists currently use vagus nerve stimulation to stimulate alertness and arousal in patients with treatment-resistant depression rather than relaxation. It's essential to remember this when choosing a vagus nerve stimulator to achieve a desired outcome, whether relaxation or alertness. You will learn more about the vagus nerve in the section below about the parasympathetic nervous system. Please speak with your doctor to determine the best course of action for the desired outcome you are seeking from vagus nerve stimulation.
This is why we chose the Pulsetto Vagus Nerve Stimulator. It is designed to access and stimulate the vagus nerve and activate the parasympathetic nervous system, which can help calm our brain and body in moments of stress, anxiety, pain, or sleep. Stimulating the vagus nerve can release neurotransmitters like serotonin, which regulates mood and focus capacity while promoting feelings of happiness and calmness. Activating the vagus nerve sends electrical signals to parts of the brain, which can change brain function to help with certain health problems (Mayo Clinic Staff, 2023). Pulsetto can reduce stress for long-lasting relief by 64%. Understanding the vagus nerve and how devices like the Pulsetto can access the rest-and-digest state can be enlightening, empowering you to take control of your health and achieve a more balanced and healthier life.
What is the Parasympathetic Nervous System?
The parasympathetic nervous system is one of the two main branches of the autonomic nervous system, the other being the sympathetic nervous system. It is often called the "rest and digest" system because it generally promotes relaxation, energy conservation, and activities that help the body recover, rest, and restore. On the other hand, the sympathetic nervous system is often called the "fight-or-flight" system because it prepares the body for action in stressful situations. While the body's stress response is essential to everyday life, constantly being on high alert isn't healthy – a common issue in our modern world. A balance between parasympathetic and sympathetic activity is necessary, and the body always tries to find equilibrium between each system.
One way to access the parasympathetic nervous system for relaxation and other benefits is via the vagus nerve. Chronic overstimulation of the sympathetic nervous system (also known as sympathetic overdrive or chronic stress) can cause many downstream effects, including excess anxiety, stress, poor sleep, and exacerbated pain. Sympathetic overdrive is when the brain and body have a heightened stress response for extended periods, even if there is no threat, looming deadline, or other essential need for action or alertness. For example, PTSD patients notably experience more sympathetic "fight-or-flight" activity, which keeps their brains and bodies in a constant state of alertness or sympathetic overdrive, ready for anything that may be a threat, and unable to relax when needed. Sympathetic overdrive can increase blood pressure and heart rate by excessively releasing neurotransmitters like cortisol and adrenaline. Over time, chronic stress or sympathetic overdrive may cause weight gain, stroke, and heart attacks, according to the Mayo Clinic (2023). Even certain medications can bias one's biology towards sympathetic "fight-or-flight" activity.
Now, with the Pulsetto in our repertoire
of therapies, we can activate the "rest and digest" state more readily in our patients, allowing them to find the necessary balance and relaxation all humans need to keep functioning at their best.
How Does The Pulsetto Work?
The Pulsetto is a vagus nerve stimulation device that enacts the parasympathetic nervous system, inducing feelings of calm, relaxation, and tranquility in just a few minutes. Here's a breakdown of how it works:
Neuromodulation: This technology modulates the nervous system by targeting nerves with non-invasive electrical signals, influencing it for therapeutic purposes. Better Brain & Body uses five different neuromodulation therapies, including Pulsetto.
Vagus nerve stimulation: The vagus nerve is a key component of the parasympathetic nervous system and is responsible for the body's relaxation response, among other responsibilities. The gel is applied to the Pulsetto's sensors and worn around the neck, targeting the vagus nerve on the right and left side. Pulsetto delivers gentle electrical pulses where the vagus nerve is easily accessible.
Activating relaxation response: When stimulated with Pulsetto, the vagus nerve transmits signals to the brain and body and activates the parasympathetic nervous system, promoting a relaxed state. This can involve:
Lowering heart rate and blood pressure
Slowing breathing
Feelings of calmness and reduced stress
Pulsetto Benefits:
Along with the benefits listed above when stimulating the vagus nerve, the Pulsetto promotes four primary benefits to users:
Reduced Stress
Decreased Anxiety
Improved Sleep
Reduced Pain
Bonus Benefit: Increase your HRV.
HRV stands for Heart Rate Variability and is important for long-term health. It measures how much the timing between your heartbeats changes and reflects how well your body adapts to stress and recovers. Pulsetto notes on their website that research suggests that 15 days of consistent vagus nerve stimulation can increase HRV by 64.5%, suggesting long-term relief from stress and anxiety. A higher HRV is generally considered better, suggesting a healthier nervous system and better resilience. Lower HRV can signal stress or burnout--but not always. HRV scores tend to be individualized depending on the person. Discuss with your doctor if you are concerned about your HRV or want to find ways to increase it, like with the Pulsetto. If you want to read more about the science behind Pulsetto, check out their scientific research. If you want to achieve these benefits with at-home treatment with Pulsetto (read below), you can get 5% off your original order using our code BBAB.
How Long Does It Take To See Benefits?
How long it takes to feel the effects of Pulsetto depends on your health. Most people notice a change in 1 to 30 days. For older people with severe bodily imbalances or very strong symptoms, it can be much faster (1-3 days). If a patient is relatively healthy, it might take the full 30 days. Some users report immediate benefits or results after their first use. The good news is that most people (80% of Pulsetto users) feel less stressed and anxious after 3-4 weeks of continued use. However, this timeframe can vary widely, with some people feeling better in just a few days and others taking up to 6 weeks (Pulsetto, 2024).
How We Use It
The Pulsetto may be used during treatment alongside other therapies for immediate and long-term relief and results. Patients can discuss with Dr. Brown if they are interested in how Pulsetto may help them. Dr. Brown may also recommend using the Pulsetto for a given patient if she believes it may aid a patient's treatment outcome. Pulsetto treatment sessions are four to twenty minutes long, depending on the treatment time chosen. Treatments are safe and do not hurt. An app comes with the device and is easy to use, allowing us to personalize and customize our patients' sessions for optimal treatment outcomes. Pulsetto comes with 10 power levels, 10 being the highest. Patients will often be started on the lowest possible power level or a low enough power level at Dr. Brown's discretion for optimal treatment outcomes without relying on high power levels unless absolutely necessary.
At-Home Treatment
If you are interested in using the Pulsetto for at-home treatment, you can purchase it at The Apothecary Shop inside Better Brain & Body or online using the following code: BBAB and you will receive 5% off of the retail price.
Affiliate Disclosure
Here at Better Brain & Body, we strive to provide honest and valuable information to our readers. As you navigate the content we create, it's important to be transparent about our relationships with the brands we mention. If you use the discount code BBAB, we may receive a commission from the retailer. While this can help support our work and allow us to keep creating content, our primary goal is to recommend products and services that we genuinely believe in and that align with our values.
Treatment at Better Brain & Body
Better Brain & Body is a functional neurology clinic and human optimization center in south Charlotte. Our clinic combines a holistic brain-body approach with cutting-edge diagnostic testing equipment and state-of-the-art rehabilitation technologies and therapies to treat various conditions, optimize human health and performance, and enhance brain-to-body function. Please call us at 704-752-8100 or click the button below to schedule your complimentary 15-minute phone consultation with our lead doctor, Dr. Alicia Brown, to see if Pulsetto treatments or our brain-body-based approach to care is right for you.
Reviewed by Dr. Alicia Brown, DC, DACNB.
Sources:
Mayo Clinic Staff (2023, August 1). Chronic stress puts your health at risk. Retrieved June 3, 2024, from https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/stress-management/in-depth/stress/art-20046037
Mayo Clinic Staff (2023, April 18). Vagus nerve stimulation. https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/vagus-nerve-stimulation/about/pac-20384565
https://pulsetto.tech/pages/science