Calm a Racing Heart

A racing heart, or seemingly random episodes of a heart beating faster than normal, is a fairly common problem. In many individuals it probably results from an unregulated nerve impulse to the heart. It may be an inherited minor defect in the nerves that control the heart muscle. Although it doesn’t pose any real danger, I know it can be frightening. Luckily, there’s a simple technique you can try next time it happens.

The technique involves the oculocardiac reflex. This reflex has been used for centuries by skilled massage therapists and those with advanced training in the martial arts.

The various rectus muscles that move your eyeball have a close association with your 10th cranial nerve (the vagus nerve). If you stimulate these rectus muscles of the eye, in a roundabout way you end up stimulating the vagus nerve also. When the vagus nerve is stimulated it slows your heart rate.

Next time you feel your heart begin to race, close your eyes and use your finger tips to lightly compress and massage around each eyeball. This should begin to quickly slow your heart rate. All of us have instinctively used this technique at one time or another. Children, and many adults as well, routinely rub their eyes when they get sleepy. Research has shown that by rubbing the eyes and eliciting the oculocardiac reflex, the heart rate will slow down by five to 13 beats a minute. In some individuals the reflex is exaggerated and the heart will slow as much as 50 beats a minute.

The slowing of the heart and degree of relaxation seems to be greater when the gentle massaging action is performed by someone else. Have someone do it for you and you’ll see what I mean. Many massage therapists, especially those in Asia, will use this technique to further relax their clients.

Leave this Move on the Wrestling Mat

In addition to applying pressure to the muscles which move the eye, the oculocardiac reflex can also be triggered by applying pressure to a small, bulb-like structure called the carotid sinus (or bulbus caroticus). For reasons I’ll explain, I would suggest rubbing your eyes to relax and lower your heart rate rather than the carotid sinus.

The carotid sinus is located in the area where the carotid artery splits into two branches. The carotid artery runs along each side of your neck and supplies blood to your head.

By applying strong pressure to one of these carotid sinuses, blood pressure can be lowered as much as 20 points in the normal person. Care has to be taken using the technique in elderly patients, especially those suffering from atherosclerosis or clogging of the arteries. The reflex can be so strong that the heart stops completely. Under normal circumstances if the heart actually stops, it will resume beating again on its own in about seven to 10 seconds. Obviously, this is not a technique to be taken lightly. Tight collars can also trigger the reflex and cause fainting. It’s one of my better excuses for not wearing a tie.

The first time I recall seeing the oculocardiac reflex was when I was a child watching wrestling on television. Back then they called it the “sleeper” hold. Once this particular wrestler got you in a head lock and applied the sleeper hold, it was all over. The same technique is still used in martial arts and in prisons to subdue violent inmates.

Again, try slowing your racing heart by massaging the muscles of the eye. Save the carotid sinus move for your next fight with Gorgeous George on Big Time Wrestling.