Ear Tickling is Good for Your Heart: Study

New 'ear tickling device' can keep heart diseases at bay, finds a study.

An expert team at the University of Leeds examined the effects of transcutaneous electric nerve stimulation (TENS) machine to induce mild tickling sensation on the ears. These devices are used alleviate labor pain and backache but, researchers tested it on 34 healthy participants for nearly 15 minutes, reports the Daily Mail.

This device stimulated the vagus nerve that serves as a major connectivity between the heart, brain and sensory organs. The stimulation delivered electrical signals from the ear to the brain to improve heartbeat. Earlier clinical trials found activation of vagus nerve can treat health ailments like epilepsy.

In the current study, the participants experienced increase or decrease in heart rate that was suitable for their condition.

"A healthy heart does not beat like a metronome. It is continually interacting with its environment - getting a little bit faster or a bit slower depending on the demands on it. An unhealthy heart is more like a machine constantly banging out the same beat. We found that when you stimulate this nerve you get about a 20% increase in heart rate variability," said Jennifer Clancy, study author and researcher at the University of Leeds, reports the Daily Mail.
 In addition, the device blocked the sympathetic nervous system that influences cardiovascular activities with the help of a different pathway using  the hormone adrenaline.

"We measured the nerve activity directly and found that it reduced by about 50% when we stimulated the ear. This is important because if you have heart disease or heart failure, you tend to have increased sympathetic activity. This drives your heart to work hard, constricts your arteries and causes damage," added Clancy.

Existing treatments for heart illnesses use beta-blockers to prevent the release of hormones that trigger the heart rates. In this research, ear stimulation significantly reduced nervous activity. The authors believe in investigating further before implementing the ear tickling technique along with conventional treatments strategies and medications for patients of heart diseases.

More information is available online in the journal Brain Stimulation.