Vagus Nerve pathology could cause IBS
The Vagus nerve is the longest nerve in the body. It runs from a ganglion in the base of the brain, past cranial/ neck vertebrae (C1 and C2) and from there innervates more or less everything in the body!
Heart rate, Thyroid function, breathing, digestion, sphincter control, balance, the functioning of Pancreas and Gall bladder, even emotional stability and mood, inflammtion....and so many other things.
If the Vagus nerve is damaged by either physical damage to the cranial vertebrae C1 and C2, or by those vertebrae being unstable (in hypermobility conditions), it can have far reaching symptoms. IBS, plus inflammatory bowel diseases such as Crohn's or IBD are included, as the Vagus nerve is the controller for digestive function .
I was fascinated to learn how much the Vagus nerve is responsible for, and what can go wrong when it isn't functioning correctly.
I found this site which explains it very thoroughly:
This is the main page:
https://www.caringmedical.com/prolotherapy-news/vagus-nerve-compression-cervical-spine/
And here are 2 pages referring to digestive disorders:
https://www.caringmedical.com/prolotherapy-news/nausea-gastroparesis-caused-cervical-spine-instability/
https://www.caringmedical.com/prolotherapy-news/gerd-neck/
These connections are probably something many doctors wouldn't think of. But if there's history of neck pain or damage, it might be worth investigating?
Thank you so much for sharing this, that's so interesting indeed and absolutely worth mentioning to doctors! It's not the first time I hear about neck pain and IBS being related, I keep referencing this story: https://irritablebowelsyndrome.net/stories/gut-neck-problems-linked because it's something I would never have thought of.
I'm wondering if things like bodywork (osteopath, chiropractor) could help with symptoms if they're related to vagus nerve damage?
Karina (team member)That's a great tip! We have a couple of articles about acupuncture and IBS: 1) https://irritablebowelsyndrome.net/alternative-complementary-treatment/acupuncture, 2) https://irritablebowelsyndrome.net/living/acupuncture, 3) https://irritablebowelsyndrome.net/alternative-complementary-treatment. I hope this helps. Karina (team member) The links were meant for
to provide additional information about acupuncture, sorry for the wrong tag. Karina (team member)
Yes, bodywork and chiropractic could be helpful, but it could also be very damaging as manipulating ligaments, and attempting to re-balance vertebrae if there is Vagus nerve involvement could be tricky. As far as I can see, it would be best to get X rays first and go through medical channels to interpret the findings and see what damage is there and how mild or bad.
Then I suppose at the direction of a doctor, bodywork may or may not be recommended?You're right, I hadn't thought about that. It's best to be sure in advance that something like this won't make it worse. Karina (team member)
this is a really insightful and interesting article. Is it known then that malfunctioning of the vagal stimulation and release of the serotonin hormone can be caused by damage (physically or from anxiety/depression) to the vagal nerve? That's such an interesting topic that could affect many community members. I just reached out to our community leads to suggest it for our medical writers. I agree that for anyone suffering from issues like that, it's worth exploring. Thanks again for sharing your insights and the articles you found! Karina (team member) thanks. It’s given me much to think about the vagal nerve, serotonin levels, and the connections with the cervical/cranial areas. I’m certainly going to spend more time looking into this areas myself now.
If you are interested in other interesting nerve impingement stories from a neurosurgeon's experience you might enjoy Dr Chris Honey's book "The Tenth Nerve."
Thank you so much for sharing this book recommandation! Karina (team member)
