What Happens When The Vagus Nerve Is Damaged?
Since the vagus nerve is so important in the innervation of many organs, a large variety of symptoms of vagus nerve disorder can result. Starting from the muscles of the throat, damage to the vagus nerve can produce problems with the person’s voice as it supplies nerves to the vocal cords. The voice will sound strained, deep, and hoarse. There will be difficulty with swallowing and even a reduced gag reflex. Thus the person might choke during eating and drinking if they have vagus nerve damage. This can be really deadly if the laryngeal muscles are paralyzed. As a result of the vagus nerve innervating the external ear canal and eardrum, sound waves are not properly interpreted and this can result in partial or full hearing loss. With vagus nerve innervation to organs inside of the thoracic cavity, damage to both branches of the vagus nerve will not cause a reduction in heart rate but an increase. There will also be an increase in blood pressure. This is because the vagus nerve provides
