NeuroStar TMS
Feeling like you have tried every depression treatment available with no success?
NeuroStar Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) powered by NeuroStar is a cutting-edge therapeutic approach offered at Bloom Health Centers to address various mental health conditions. It involves stimulating nerve cells in the brain with magnetic pulses. It is painless, non-invasive, and has proven clinically effective for some patients struggling with medication-resistant depression.
Covered by almost all insurance plans!
A Bloom NeuroStar TMS professional is available to answer your questions and help determine if NeuroStar TMS is right for you!
Focused Treatment at the Source of Depression
More Medication Is Not Always the Answer
If you are struggling with depression and have not had success with depression medication or are unable to take medication due to the side effects, there is an alternative. Consider an advanced treatment cleared by the FDA and offered at select Bloom Health Centers.
NeuroStar TMS Is Easy
- NeuroStar TMS sessions are conducted in a Bloom office
- You can return to normal activities right away
- You are awake during treatment
- There are no negative effects on memory or sleep
- It’s covered by most health insurance plans
About NeuroStar TMS
If you have never heard of TMS, you are not alone. Learn more and find out if TMS may be an option worth exploring to help you on your personal journey to healing.
TMS is a long-lasting treatment for depression. Over two-thirds of patients retain their response one-year post-TMS. For those patients who relapse, over 80% of them respond to a second round of TMS. Medications can often produce unwanted side effects, such as fatigue, drowsiness, weight gain, nausea, and sexual problems, to name few.
TMS is virtually free of side effects because it is non-systemic and does not enter the bloodstream like medications. The magnetic pulses pass through your scalp and into the desired brain location. You’ll hear clicking sounds and it can feel like a knocking, tapping, or tingling sensation on your head. Some patients may experience a headache or scalp sensitivity in the treatment location.
What Is NeuroStar TMS?
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) by NeuroStar is a safe, painless, and FDA-cleared treatment with zero downtime that is proven to be effective for conditions such as depression. Unlike other alternative treatments, TMS is non-invasive (does not require surgery or require anesthesia) and non-systemic (does not affect the entire body). TMS was originally developed in the 1980s as a brain mapping technique, then gained clinical interest from scientists. It was FDA-cleared in 2008 due to its significant ability to successfully treat clinical depression.
According to research, approximately 1 in 10 individuals in the US take some type of antidepressant medication. These medications work by chemically altering the amount of dopamine, norepinephrine, or serotonin available to the brain. Psychiatric drugs are systemic, meaning that they diffuse through your entire body and can result in numerous undesirable side effects including weight gain, fatigue, or sexual dysfunction.
Unlike antidepressants, TMS is a neuromodulation technique that changes the way the neurons in your brain fire and function. We like to think of it as physical therapy for your brain! This revolutionary treatment targets the precise neural circuits that are not working well in individuals with depression. Patients typically experience significant improvement within 3-6 weeks of starting TMS, versus medications which can take 10 weeks to wield their full effect.
Since TMS has fewer side effects than anti-depressant medications and is well-tolerated without anesthesia, many individuals opt for TMS treatment as a first-line treatment, especially women who are breastfeeding. Plus, TMS is covered by most insurance plans, which makes it an affordable option.
Why NeuroStar TMS?
Though there are many effective treatments available for depression, there are times when the traditional approaches, such as therapy and antidepressant medications, simply do not work. For these individuals, each new medication attempted is typically found to be even less likely to work than the previous one tried.
Considering that medications can take weeks or even months to exert their full effect, multiple failed attempts to treat major depressive disorder (MDD) with medications can add to the hopelessness already being experienced by depressed patients. That is why Bloom offers innovative treatment options that are scientifically proven to be effective at treating depression.
TMS achieves incredibly promising results when compared to traditional treatments, such as psychiatric drugs and talk therapy. Plus, TMS does not have the systematic side effects associated with many medications!
In most cases, medications and/or psychotherapy are the first intervention choice for depression. With that being said, there are many cases where these traditional approaches do not work. Symptom improvement can be painfully slow and many individuals experience unpleasant or severe side effects from the medications. TMS typically works in 3-6 weeks and has been found to be more effective than antidepressant medications.
If you are experiencing treatment-resistant depression, lingering depressive symptoms, or unwanted medication side effects, or if you want to supplement your current treatment plan, you may want to consider TMS. Most insurance providers currently cover TMS for depression.
Wondering if you may be a candidate for TMS? Ask yourself the following questions:
∗ Have you ever been diagnosed with one or more of the following conditions?
- Clinical Depression
- Major Depressive Disorder
- Peripartum Depression
- Postpartum Depression
- Chronic or Treatment-Resistant Depression
- Persistent Depressive Disorder
- Severe Depression
∗ Have you tried medications to treat your depression?
∗ Have you experienced unwanted side effects from your depression medication?
∗ Are your depression symptoms interfering with your daily life?
∗ Are your symptoms negatively impacting your relationships with your family and friends?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, contact Bloom if you want to find out more about TMS and see if it may be right for you! You don’t have to suffer alone.
How It Works
For individuals suffering from clinical depression, scientists have found that specific areas of the brain are typically underperforming. TMS treats mental health conditions directly at the neurological source by targeting the area of the brain (the frontal cortex) that is under active in people with depression.
TMS treatment involves stimulation of targeted, underperforming brain regions using gentle, noninvasive magnetic pulses to activate the frontal cortex and helps people process and utilize the chemicals in the brain (namely, dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin) that create happiness, motivation, and excitement.
Magnetic pulses work to target key areas of the brain that are underactive in people with depression. It is not ECT (electroconvulsive therapy). While the exact cause of depression is not known, the leading scientific theory is that it is caused by an imbalance of the brain’s neurotransmitters, which are chemical messengers that send signals between brain cells. TMS works to bring brain activity back online and get neurotransmitters properly signaling again.
Following TMS treatment, both neurotransmitter levels and nerve communication increase, leading to an increased improvement in symptoms and an improvement in the brain’s ability to regulate mood.
- Safe
- Painless
- Effective
- Non-Invasive
- FDA-Cleared
- Covered by Most Insurance
Just answer a few questions, and a Bloom TMS professional will reach out for a complimentary assessment to find out if TMS is right for you or a loved one!
TMS Assessment
TMS Patient Journey at Bloom
New to TMS? You are not alone.
Find out more about the journey to a life without depression through TMS Therapy at Bloom.
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Arlington, VA 22203
158 Front Royal Pike, #206
Winchester VA 22602
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