if you find yourself going through hell, keep going
Winston Churchill

What happens in a treatment session

Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation is an out-patient procedure provided in our clinic. Neither anesthetic nor sedation is needed: there is no need for pre-treatment medication and you are able return to daily activities immediately afterwards. It is a non-invasive therapy with no serious side effects. Its minor ones, such as the headaches experienced by some patients, rarely last more than a few hours.

You sit in a reclining chair and the therapist positions the magnetic coil next to the your head. A computer controlled machine delivers a series of rapid current pulses into the coil: these current pulses create pulses of magnetism that stimulate the cortex of your brain. These magnetic pulses induce some very low level electrical activity in the nerve cells they are directed towards: you will not feel the electrical effect, but gradually over a successful treatment course, the stimulated nerves will become more active. You will hear the rapid clicking sound made by the stimulator and many patients report they feel a "tapping" sensation on the forehead.

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At Start of your first session

At the start of your first session of treatment, the technician needs to find the exact strength of magnetic field needed to stimulate your brain. This calibration is done quickly by finding the sensitivity of your motor cortex (a band of brain tissue that runs essentially from one ear, over the vertex of the head down to the other ear). Over the appropriate motor cortex region, a single magnetic pulse will make your opposite side thumb twitch slightly - this is not painful, just the sensation that something exterior to you has momentary control of your thumb. The technician will do this for both sides of your brain.

Next we take measurements

Next, we take measurements of your head so that we can locate the exact placement, specific to you, for the magnetic coil. Typically it’s midway over an eyebrow on the edge of the hairline. Treatment at this spot on the left side enhances brain activity in the underlying cortex and helps lift mood: treatment at the equivalent spot on the right side diminishes anxiety.

Follow-up after course of treatment

We will contact you periodically after your treatment is completed – after one, three, and six months, and then after one year. We will ask you to complete and return to us new Beck Depression Inventories.

Some patients find that they need to return occasionally for a short course of maintenance therapy. We encourage you to contact us quickly if you feel your depression is returning.