Is there any pain associated with TMS?
Dr. Rustin Berlow discusses if any pain is felt during TMS sessions and how the patient may feel afterward.
How patients feel during and after a TMS session
Is there any pain associated with TMS?
Pain is not a service we provide. Generally speaking, there’s not any. We let our patients know that we want them to inform us if they’re having any pain, but there shouldn’t be any with TMS. If it’s done right, there may be minor twitching or minor discomfort but not pain.
And after TMS is completed, after their first or second session, what should they expect when they go home? Will they be able to drive?
Patients can drive and many times, they notice that they’re better drivers because they’re more present. They can see more clearly and they can hear more clearly. I had one patient who texted me after her first TMS session and she said, “Dr. Berlow, you mentioned that I might see more clearly or hear more clearly. Is it possible that this improved my sense of smell?”
I said, “Why do you ask?”
And she said, “I just arrived home and I realized for the first time my fiancee’s feet stink, but I’m going to marry him anyway.”
So the three things that I’ve noticed after the first session are an improvement in sensory, better presence and then in the morning the next day, many patients report that they wake up feeling, “Oh another day” as opposed to, “Oh not this again!” So that morning immediate reaction to the day, the next day, can be different in about a quarter to a third of patients.