Osteoarthritis Clinical Trials in El Paso, TX

The objective of the study is to explore the effects of arm exercise (UE, arm ergometer) vs. leg exercise (LE, cycling ergometer) on exercise-induced hypoalgesia (EIH), central pain mechanisms and knee pain in people with knee osteoarthritis (OA). Furthermore, we will explore relations of socioeconomic status, racial discrimination, acculturative stress, and autonomic function to exercise effects on EIH, central pain mechanisms, and knee pain. This will be a pilot randomized cross-over study where all participants undergo Day 1 (baseline assessments), Day 2 (UE or LE), and Day 3 (UE or LE). Read Less

The goal of this clinical trial is to test the feasibility and effectiveness of transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation (tVNS) to the ear on pain and autonomic function in people with knee osteoarthritis (OA). The main questions it aims to answer are: 1) whether tVNS is feasible to be used in people with knee OA; 2) whether tVNS demonstrates the trend in improving knee pain; and 3) whether tVNS has physiological effects on autonomic function (e.g., parasympathetic function) and pain perception in the central nervous system such as brain (i.e., central pain mechanisms). Participants will be asked to complete a battery of self-reported questionnaires about their demographic and behavioral information, ethnicity, pain, sleep, psychological/emotional symptoms. Subsequently, participants will complete baseline assessment where investigators will assess their knee pain severity, central pain sensitivity, and heart rate variability (a measurement for autonomic function). Then participants will receive a 60-minute tVNS. Investigators will redo the same assessment as baseline assessment after tVNS intervention to see the degree of knee pain, central pain sensitivity, and autonomic function changes. At the end of the study, investigators will assess their satisfaction level with the tVNS intervention and the feasibility of the intervention (e.g., completion rate, side effects). Read Less