Nikhil Prasad Fact checked by:Thailand Medical News Team Aug 03, 2026 49 minutes ago
A small clinical trial has found that a handheld device designed to stimulate the vagus nerve may help ease some of the persistent symptoms experienced by people living with Long COVID. While the treatment is still experimental and larger studies are needed, researchers believe the approach could become an important option for a condition that currently has no approved therapies. The findings are based on a pilot randomized controlled trial described in the uploaded study.
A handheld vagus nerve stimulation device showed encouraging early signs of reducing fatigue and other
Long COVID symptoms in a pilot clinical trial.
Why Researchers Explored This Treatment
Scientists from the Department of Internal Medicine, Division of General Internal Medicine, Mayo Clinic, the Department of Quantitative Health Sciences, Mayo Clinic, the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Mayo Clinic, and the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes, Metabolism and Nutrition, Mayo Clinic, all in Rochester, Minnesota, conducted the study.
Long COVID affects millions of people worldwide, often causing fatigue, brain fog, headaches, dizziness, sleep problems, muscle pain and worsening symptoms after physical activity. Researchers believe some of these problems may be linked to inflammation and an imbalance in the autonomic nervous system, particularly involving the vagus nerve, which helps regulate heart rate, digestion and the body's inflammatory response.
How the Study Was Conducted
The research enrolled 18 adults diagnosed with Long COVID. Eight participants received a handheld non-invasive transcutaneous cervical vagus nerve stimulation device in addition to standard care, while 10 participants continued with standard care alone.
Those using the device applied it to the neck for two-minute sessions, three times daily, over a 12-week period. Researchers monitored physical function, fatigue, depression, anxiety, autonomic nervous system symptoms and several blood markers linked to inflammation and stress, including IL-6, cortisol and DHEA.
Encouraging Trends Despite the Small Trial
Although the study was too small to prove effectiveness statistically, several encouraging trends emerged.
Participants using the device showed greater improvements in fatigue scores, depression symptoms and measures of autonomic nervous system dysfunction compared with those receiving standard care alone. Two patients in the treatment group also experienced better overall functional status, while none in the control group showed similar improvement.
Blood testing also suggested that increases in cortisol and DHEA, two hormones associated with the body's stress response, were smaller among those receiving vagus nerve stimulation. However, inflammatory marker IL-6 remained largely unchanged between the groups.
This
Medical News report highlights that every participant completed the full 12-week study, demonstrating excellent treatment adherence. Importantly, the therapy was well tolerated, with only two
mild side effects reported: temporary nausea in one participant and mild neck tightness in another.
Why the Findings Matter
The researchers believe the vagus nerve may play a much larger role in Long COVID than previously recognized. By stimulating this nerve, the treatment may help restore balance within the autonomic nervous system while reducing abnormal inflammatory activity believed to contribute to lingering symptoms.
The investigators also noted that similar positive signals have now appeared in several early studies evaluating different forms of non-invasive vagus nerve stimulation, strengthening interest in this therapeutic approach.
Conclusion
Although this pilot study did not achieve statistically significant improvements because of its limited size, the consistent positive trends, excellent safety profile and high patient compliance suggest handheld non-invasive vagus nerve stimulation deserves much larger clinical trials. If future studies confirm these findings, this simple portable treatment could eventually become an accessible option for helping many people struggling with persistent Long COVID symptoms.
The study findings were published in the peer reviewed Journal of Primary Care & Community Health.
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/21501319261473073
Read Also:
https://www.thailandmedical.news/articles/long-covid
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