What Is Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation and What Does It Treat?

At some point in their lives, more than 50% of Americans will get diagnosed with a mental health condition. That doesn’t even speak to the number of people who live with one of these conditions but never talk to a health care professional about it. Here’s the truth: most of us will deal with depression, anxiety, or another mental illness at some point. Fortunately, a new treatment can make living with these conditions easier. It’s called transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). This new and exciting field of study has turned out impressive results for people with treatment-resistant depression, anxiety, chronic pain, addiction, tinnitus, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). So, in an effort to help you, Mikael Sarij, MD, and our team at Integrated Spine And Pain Care offer TMS at our offices in Farmingdale and Deer Park, New York. Should you consider it for yourself or someone you care about? To help you decide, let’s look more closely. TMS 101 The technical term “transcranial magnetic stimulation” can seem a little intimidating. But once you break it down, it’s far less daunting, so let’s do exactly that. Transcranial means that something is passing through your skull. In this case, it’s magnetic stimulation, meaning this treatment uses a magnetic field to trigger activity. Together, that means that this treatment happens from the outside in, sending the magnetic stimulation through your skull rather than requiring any sort of invasive procedure. Here at Integrated Spine and Pain Care, Dr. Sarij uses CloudTMS, an FDA-cleared device that doesn’t cause any head pain or pressure. It’s connected to a computer that designates the precise amount of magnetic energy to release based on your unique case. What to expect with TMS To start, we get you seated comfortably in a chair and put a protective, swimmer’s-like cap on your head. Next, we position the TMS device with the magnetic coil over the area of your head requiring treatment. Once Dr. Sarij activates the CloudTMS system, the coil sends magnetic pulses through your skull to reach targeted areas of your brain. This works to stimulate the brain region that’s causing your symptoms due to inactivity, encouraging new activity there. Your brain on TMS More and more health care professionals turn to TMS as a way to address issues that haven’t responded to other treatments. If you’re living with depression, for example, and antidepressants and therapy haven’t helped, TMS might be right for you. In studies, 50-60% of people with treatment-resistant depression saw their symptoms notably reduced with TMS. And, for some, those symptoms disappear altogether. We can also use TMS to address:

• Anxiety, including treatment-resistant anxiety
• Chronic pain
• Addiction and withdrawal
• Tinnitus
• PTSD

If you experience any of these conditions and haven’t found an effective solution, call the Integrated Spine and Pain Care office nearest you or book your TMS consultation online today.