Virtual Reality and Cranial Nerve Neuromodulation to Manage Chronic Pain

Launched by UNIVERSITÉ DE SHERBROOKE · Jul 3, 2025

Keywords

ClinConnect Summary

This clinical trial is studying a new way to help veterans who suffer from long-lasting pain and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Researchers want to see if using virtual reality (VR)—a technology that creates immersive, computer-generated environments—along with a special, non-invasive treatment that gently stimulates nerves on the tongue, can reduce pain and help balance the nervous system. The goal is to find out if combining these two therapies works better than VR alone to improve pain and overall well-being in veterans.

To take part, you need to be a veteran aged 30 or older who has had muscle or joint pain for more than six months and has been diagnosed with PTSD by a doctor or scored high on a PTSD questionnaire. The study will last about 20 minutes per session, during which you will try VR and the tongue stimulation treatment while your pain and nervous system responses are measured before and after. This study is not yet recruiting, and some people won’t be eligible, such as those with certain mental health conditions, nerve pain types, epilepsy, or sensitivity to light or motion. If successful, this research could lead to new, easy-to-use treatments to help veterans better manage chronic pain and PTSD.

Gender

ALL

Eligibility criteria

• Inclusion Criteria:
• • 1. Be a veteran;
• • 2. Be ≥30 years old;
• • 3. Have a diagnosis of chronic musculoskeletal pain (pain \> 6 months);
• • 4. Have been diagnosed with PTSD by a health professional and/or have a PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5) score \> 30/80 and
• • 5. Speak English or French.
• Exclusion Criteria:
• • 1. Bipolar disorder, psychosis;
• • 2. Neuropathic pain (based on the Neuropathic Pain Diagnosis and Questionnaire (DN4));
• • 3. Visual disorders or photosensitivity, color blindness;
• • 4. Epilepsy, motion sickness and
• • 5. Any containdications to CN-NINM.