New Treatment Eases Knee Pain Through the Ear
If you struggle with knee pain, this new treatment may sound like music to your ears.
Researchers have found a way to ease knee pain by stimulating the vagus nerve through the ear.
They tested the treatment on 30 adults — 45 years of age and older — who had knee osteoarthritis. For sixty minutes, each participant wore a special device that rests on the ear and sends a pulse to the vagus nerve.
Overall, 11 out of 30 participants felt a noticeable difference in their pain levels after receiving the treatment. And 93% had no side effects.
The lead investigator says many current therapies are based on the assumption that tissue damage is causing knee pain. But this new approach targets a suspected imbalance in the central nervous system, which can trigger pain.
The authors say the next step will be a clinical trial where some patients receive vagus nerve stimulation and others placebo.
The transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (tVNS) device is already approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat conditions like epilepsy and depression.
Article by HealthDayTV
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