Vagal maneuvers are ways to treat a fast heart rate of more than 100 beats per minute that starts in the upper chambers of your heart, the atria. Doctors call this type of heartbeat supraventricular tachycardia, or SVT.
SVT happens when electrical signals in your heart’s atria get out of sync. This interferes with signals from the sinoatrial (SA) node, your heart’s natural pacemaker. Early beats in the atria speed up your heart rate.
Valsalva maneuver
While lying on your back, take a deep breath and act like you’re exhaling but with your nose and mouth closed for 10 to 30 seconds. It should feel like trying to breathe air out into a blocked straw.
diving reflex
You may need to put a plastic bag of ice on your face for 15 seconds. Or you can immerse your face in icy cold water for several seconds. It might also work to step into a cold shower or a cold bath.
carotid sinus massage
Lie down and stick out your chin. Have someone put pressure on your carotid sinus, a bundle of nerves surrounding the carotid artery in your neck just below your jaw.
gag reflex
You can try it with a finger. Your doctor might use a tongue depressor.
coughing
You need to cough hard to generate pressure in your chest and stimulate the vagus nerve. Children with tachycardia may not be able to cough hard enough to get a response from the vagus nerve.
Handstand
for 30 seconds. (In one study, healthcare providers taught parents how to help their kids do this.)
Applied abdominal pressure.
(Try lying on your back and folding your lower body toward your face until your feet are past your head. Take a breath and strain for 20 to 30 seconds.)