Neck zapper to help ease chronic stomach pain

A HAND-HELD nerve stimulator applied to the neck might help with the painful stomach complaint gastroparesis.

The condition means the stomach can’t empty itself as normal, leading to bloating, nausea and abdominal pain.

In a trial at Stanford University in the U.S., 45 volunteers with the condition will use a vagus nerve stimulator (that emits electrical impulses through the skin to the vagus nerve in the neck) for five minutes a day, twice a week.

It’s thought that the stimulator will block faulty nerve signals that might trigger the problem.