A real randomised trial of NESA — in professional basketball.
A rarity in this field: a real randomised, placebo-controlled clinical trial of NESA — conducted by the Sports Performance Area of FC Barcelona (Barça Innovation Hub) in 12 professional basketball players. Below we present the results in full — all measured parameters.
One of the few real randomised trials of NESA — with real professionals.
Sports Performance Area of FC Barcelona, together with Universidad Francisco de Vitoria and Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.
0.1–0.9 mA, biphasic current, via 24 electrodes (wrists and ankles). Measured over 3 weeks with 1 match each and 3 weeks with 2 matches each — using the Hooper wellness questionnaire, salivary biomarkers (testosterone, cortisol, T:C ratio) and sleep/HRV data from an Oura ring.
García F, Fernández D, Vázquez-Guerrero J, Font R, Moreno-Planas B, Álamo-Arce D, Medina-Ramírez R, Mallol-Soler M. “Recovery of the physiological status in professional basketball players using NESA neuromodulation treatment during different types of microcycles in season: A preliminary randomized clinical trial.” Frontiers in Physiology, 13:1032020, 2022. DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2022.1032020 · ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04939181.
A more stable nocturnal heart rate and less wakefulness — statistically significant.
Lowest heart rate during the night
NESA group ≈41.3–41.5 bpm versus control ≈44.6–45.8 bpm (p<0.001).
Average heart rate during the night
NESA group ≈45.4–45.8 bpm versus control ≈50.3–52.0 bpm (p<0.001).
Total time awake during the night
NESA group ≈1.15–1.23 h versus control ≈1.47 h (p=0.04).
Source: García et al., Frontiers in Physiology, 13:1032020, 2022 (DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2022.1032020).
Three statistically significant improvements with NESA — on a schedule of two matches a week.
The trial measured 14 parameters. Three of them are significantly better in the players with NESA; one is higher in the NESA group; all the others are at a similar level in both groups — and that on the most demanding schedule possible in the season. Here are all the numbers.
Lowest nocturnal heart rate (p<0.001)
Average nocturnal heart rate (p<0.001)
Total time awake during the night (p=0.04)
Subjective stress on the Hooper questionnaire — the only parameter with a higher value in the NESA group: 3.2±0.9 versus 2.5±1.2 (p=0.01)
Heart-rate variability / RMSSD — vagal tone (p=0.8)
Sleep duration (p=0.7)
Sleep-onset latency (p=0.8)
Muscle soreness (p=0.3)
Fatigue (p=0.1)
Testosterone (p=0.3)
Cortisol (p=0.1)
Testosterone:cortisol ratio (p=0.9)
Weeks with 1 versus 2 matches — the recovery parameters remain stable even on a double match schedule
A preliminary trial with a single professional team (n=12) — and valuable precisely for that reason: real players, a real season, placebo control and objective data from Oura, not laboratory conditions. The authors recommend larger studies in more populations — youth, semi-professionals, female athletes.
The authors' own conclusion: players who received NESA therapy show “a trend towards improved sleep quality”, while biochemical markers and general wellness remain similar between the two groups.
García F, Fernández D, Vázquez-Guerrero J, Font R, Moreno-Planas B, Álamo-Arce D, Medina-Ramírez R, Mallol-Soler M. “Recovery of the physiological status in professional basketball players using NESA neuromodulation treatment during different types of microcycles in season: A preliminary randomized clinical trial.” Frontiers in Physiology, 13:1032020, 2022. DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2022.1032020 · ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04939181 · Sports Performance Area, FC Barcelona (Barça Innovation Hub), together with Universidad Francisco de Vitoria and Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.
Measured in professionals during a real season — not in a laboratory.
The significant result is concrete: a lower and more stable nocturnal heart rate and less wakefulness during the night — a signal of autonomic self-regulation during sleep, measured with Oura on a demanding match schedule. Exactly this type of nocturnal recovery is the foundation on which the next day's performance is built.
When an athlete's nocturnal heart rate is lower and more stable, it is their own autonomic nervous system that achieves that balance during the night — NESA is the condition under which that self-regulation was measured in this particular trial; the work is done by the athlete's own nervous system. On HRV/RMSSD, usually the most-cited autonomic marker, the two groups remain similar.
We present the results exactly as they were measured — as the starting point of a conversation with the medical team. What they mean for a specific team is decided by the staff who know the players.
NESA fits into the team's medical supervision — at the sports physician's discretion.
Application in athletes is planned together with the sports physician or physiologist — outside and around the training and competition calendar.
The results above come from one small, preliminary trial (n=12, a single team) — they are a signal of autonomic self-regulation; performance and injuries were not the subject of the study.
Absolute contraindications (pacemaker, pregnancy, active electrical implants) follow the device IFU and are checked together with the treating team before every application.
Non-invasive, with no known systemic side effects.
NESA is a non-invasive, low-intensity method and introduces no substances into the body — no relation to doping regulations. The trial reports no adverse reactions in either group, but as with any device, the final judgement remains with the treating team.
The other applications of NESA in sports medicine.
Recovery, HRV, sleep and load management — the full picture of NESA in sport.
→Discuss the results with us.
For sports physicians, physiologists and medical staffs: we explain the mechanism of NESA, the specific data from the basketball trial and how to judge whether it is a suitable tool for your team.
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