An interventional study of nVNS Treatment in TMD and Temporomandibular Disorders (TMDs), sponsored by Arpana Church. Recruiting at 1 site in United States. Open to female participants aged 18 Years to 50 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-11-06.
Sponsored by Arpana Church · Not applicable, Interventional, and Treatment
The study aims to examine the effects of transcutaneous non-invasive vagus nerve stimulation (nVNS) on symptoms and brain mechanisms in premenopausal women with temporomandibular disorders (TMD). Non-invasive vagus nerve stimulation (nVNS) is the most well researched and possibly the most effective non-invasive neuromodulation treatment for chronic pain conditions that targets the brain-gut-microbiome (BGM) axis.
Participants will be asked to come in for 2 in-clinic visits, at baseline and post treatment. Participants will also be asked to come in 2x/week for 8 consecutive weeks to receive the nVNS treatment. The in-clinic visits will include physical measures, blood draw, saliva sample, and brain MRI. Participants will be asked to collect a stool sample at home and answer online questionnaires regarding, mood, pain, and health behaviors at home, prior to the in-clinic appointments.
591 studies on the registry are indexed under Temporomandibular Joint Disorders; 149 are open to participants now.
This study's planned enrollment of 10 is below the median of 45 across 415 interventional studies indexed under Temporomandibular Joint Disorders.
Browse Temporomandibular Joint Disorders studies →This is the only study on the registry with Arpana Church as lead sponsor.
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Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.
Right-handed (participants are limited to right-handed individuals to reduce variability in brain lateralization and ensure more consistent, interpretable data).
Exclusion Criteria:
Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
A condition in which the immune system attacks the body’s own tissues, such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, psoriasis, type 1 diabetes or inflammatory bowel disease.
Immunotherapy studies often leave out active autoimmune disease, and some name exceptions, such as thyroid disease on replacement hormone. Check the exceptions this study lists.
Anti-inflammatory medicines such as prednisone, prednisolone and dexamethasone — not the anabolic steroids used for muscle.
Studies differ in what they allow: check which steroid medicines, routes (tablets, injections, creams, inhalers, eye drops) and doses this study accepts.
Blood cells that help blood clot. Too few raises the risk of bleeding and bruising. A usual adult range is about 150–400 × 10⁹/L (150,000–400,000 per µL); each lab has its own reference range.
Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.
You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.
Autoimmune disease
A condition in which the immune system attacks the body’s own tissues, such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, psoriasis, type 1 diabetes or inflammatory bowel disease.
Immunotherapy studies often leave out active autoimmune disease, and some name exceptions, such as thyroid disease on replacement hormone. Check the exceptions this study lists.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Corticosteroids (steroids)
Anti-inflammatory medicines such as prednisone, prednisolone and dexamethasone — not the anabolic steroids used for muscle.
Studies differ in what they allow: check which steroid medicines, routes (tablets, injections, creams, inhalers, eye drops) and doses this study accepts.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Platelets
Blood cells that help blood clot. Too few raises the risk of bleeding and bruising. A usual adult range is about 150–400 × 10⁹/L (150,000–400,000 per µL); each lab has its own reference range.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Informed consent
Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.
You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
nVNS Treatment 2x/week for 8 weeks
Device: nVNS Treatment
nVNS treatment 2x/week for 8 consecutive weeks.
Also known as: vagus nerve stimulation, non-invasive vagus nerve stimulation
Pain Intensity
To be measured using a numeric rating scale 0-10.
Time frame: From the baseline in-clinic visit through 8 weeks of biweekly visits, assessed immediately before and after each nVNS session.
Pain Unpleasantness
To be measured using a visual analog scale.
Time frame: From the baseline in-clinic visit through 8 weeks of biweekly visits, assessed immediately before and after each nVNS session.
Positive and Negative Affect
To be measured using the positive and negative affect scale (PANAS).
Time frame: From the baseline in-clinic visit through 8 weeks of biweekly visits, assessed immediately before and after each nVNS session.
From the registry record's own update history. This site started tracking changes on Sep 25, 2026; for anything earlier, see the record history on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
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Temporomandibular Joint Disorders →