Scouted: I Tried the Truvaga Plus for Vagus Nerve Stimulation and My Sleep Has Never Been Better

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It seems like there’s an at-home device for every wellness concern these days, from red lights and lasers to heated gua sha and dream optimizers. To add one more thing to this ever-growing list, Truvaga offers handheld vagus nerve stimulators.

What is the vagus nerve, and why does it need to be stimulated? To find out, I dove into the research, chatted with a couple of experts on the matter, and tried the Truvaga Plus device myself.

What Is the Vagus Nerve?

The vagus nerve is the longest nerve in the body. You actually have two vagus nerves, one running on either side of your neck. It starts in the brainstem (where the brain connects to the spinal cord), goes down through the neck, into the chest and abdomen, and connects to the heart, lungs, and other organs.

Ronald Benitez, MD, a neurosurgeon and medical director at Atlantic Health System in New Jersey, explained that the vagus nerve is a crucial “communication line” between the brain and body. It’s part of the parasympathetic nervous system (aka the “rest and digest” system), which helps the body relax, recover, and conserve energy. “You can think of it as a built-in feedback loop that helps regulate things like heart rate, blood pressure, digestion, and even mood,” he said.

What Can Vagus Nerve Stimulation Do?

Vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) sends electrical pulses to the vagus nerve. One of the main goals is to improve heart rate variability (HRV). This is how much your heart rate fluctuates in response to various stimuli—like something startling you, reading a stressful email, or being stuck in traffic. The idea is that higher HRV is better because it means your nervous system is more adaptable and resilient—in other words, you don’t sweat the small stuff.

VNS is used for several health conditions, including epilepsy, stroke recovery, inflammatory disorders, depression, anxiety, and even brain fog and other effects of long COVID. “By gently activating the vagus nerve, we can help rebalance the autonomic nervous system, easing that constant ‘fight-or-flight’ state and promoting relaxation,” Benitez said. “Patients often report improvements in sleep, stress levels, and an overall sense of calm.”

What Is the Truvaga Plus?

The Truvaga Plus is a handheld, battery-powered device you place on your neck to stimulate your vagus nerve. Each session is two minutes, and you can increase the intensity to your comfort level or “until you feel a strong tingling.”

With two sessions a day, it promises to help with stress relief, sleep quality, focus, and even gut health. This may sound too good to be true, but the technique is backed by research and has been used in medical settings for decades.

My Experience With the Truvaga Plus

You have to download the Truvaga mobile app and create an account to use the device (both free). I wish this weren’t the case, as I personally feel like not everything needs to be tracked—or have its own app, for that matter—but that’s the world we live in. No big deal.

Once the device is synced with the app, you find your vagus nerve (where the pulse is on either side of your neck). Next, you apply one or two spritzes of the included “electrode solution” onto your neck in that spot (like how ultrasounds need conductive gel). The spray isn’t sticky or greasy, and it’s inexpensive when you need a new bottle. Then you place the metal knobs of the Truvaga on your neck and start a session. When the two-minute countdown is complete, the device automatically stops.

The first time, I adjusted the intensity to a level six (out of 10). In most other sessions, I moved it up to level eight.

It feels like a soft electrical pulse, but not in a [literal] shocking way. The sessions were never painful or uncomfortable. Each session (and side of the neck) was slightly different. Sometimes, I felt the buzzy vibrations in the vein of my neck and into my ear canal. Other times, it felt like my lymph nodes were pulsing or my lower lip was quivering.

Truvaga PlusDown From $500Before each session, the app allows you to choose what you want to improve: sleep, stress, mental performance, physical performance, or mood. Your selection doesn’t appear to change how the Truvaga sends pulses to your vagus nerve—I think this feature is just for tracking how you feel with regular sessions.See At Truvaga$450

Sleep and low-grade stress are the biggest ones for me. I wasn’t sure if I felt any difference in the first few days, but after doing two sessions a day (one on either side of my neck) for a couple of weeks, I’m sleeping way better—passing out quicker with fewer wake-ups. Plus, I don’t get worked up as easily over minor annoyances.

Sometimes, when I’m burnt out from work or running on too few hours of sleep, I can get a little jumpy—there’s that fight-or-flight state Benitez mentioned. Using the Truvaga seemed to mollify this feeling a bit.

I also like how travel-friendly the Truvaga Plus is. It’s light and compact, easily stashing in a purse or backpack, and charges with a USB-C charger. The battery lasts a long time, too. I didn’t need to recharge it even once during the two weeks of testing.

Is the Truvaga Plus Worth It?

The Truvaga Plus is $499. There’s a more affordable option, the Truvaga 350. At $299, the 350 doesn’t use an app (which could be a good thing, if you’re like me), but it caps out at 350 sessions total—after roughly six months of daily use, the device will no longer work. While the Plus isn’t cheap, it’s more sustainable and possibly a better value if you continue using it for multiple years.

At first glance, the Truvaga might seem like one more thing you’d never consider until it came across your feed. And maybe it is. However, if you’re looking for medication-free remedies to improve sleep, focus, and mental well-being, it might be worth a shot.

Truvaga also offers a 30-day trial period. If you aren’t getting the results you’d hoped for within 30 days, you can return it and get your money back—no questions asked.