You are seated in a comfortable chair with the option to watch your favorite tv show or video on a screen or your device using earplugs .Once comfortable, the physician or his TMS certified assistant will place the TMS coil over your head to ensure maximum and effective transcranial magnetic stimulation of the targeted brain region. Once the session begins, there will be a ‘tapping sound emitted from the coil in varying intervals, depending on treatment protocol. Treatment time varies, Deep TMS therapy will last about 36 minutes and Theta Burst Therapy will last about six minutes. Once treatment is completed, you can immediately return to normal daily routine, and you can drive yourself home or to work thereafter.

The treatment is without the side effects typically experienced with anti-depressants. Some patients report of a mild discomfort or headache, but you should be able to resume your daily activities right after treatment. TMS is non-invasive, non-systemic, and has not been shown to cause any systemic side effects. Our TMS treatments are administered at our offices and do not require hospitalization or anesthesia.

While many patients experience remission, most patients continue taking antidepressants after successful TMS therapy, usually decreasing intake, depending on person.

In reality, TMS therapy is not like Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT). ECT is a treatment based on using electricity to induce seizures. On the other hand, Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation uses magnetic pulses to non-invasively stimulate specific brain regions associated with major depressive disorder. ECT requires anesthesia and has serious side effects, including memory loss. TMS therapy is performed in our offices, requires no anesthesia, and has no systemic side effects.