Could lowering high blood pressure be as simple as stimulating your ear?

A small device that gently stimulates nerves through the ear could offer a new way to tackle stubborn high blood pressure. In a clinical trial of 63 patients already taking medication, the treatment proved safe, easy to use at home, and well tolerated. Although it did not significantly outperform a placebo overall, patients with more severe hypertension showed promising reductions in blood pressure. A small device that delivers gentle electrical pulses through the ear could offer a new approach to treating stubborn high blood pressure. In a clinical trial led by researchers at Queen Mary University of London, the technology proved safe, well tolerated, and practical for patients to use at home.

Although the treatment did not significantly lower blood pressure compared with a placebo device across all participants, researchers observed encouraging results in patients with more severe hypertension. The findings suggest that stimulating nerves in the ear could eventually help certain people whose blood pressure remains elevated despite taking medication. The results come from the SCRATCH-HTN trial, published in Hypertension, a journal of the American Heart Association. Researchers emphasize that larger studies are needed to determine whether the approach can provide meaningful benefits and which patients might