Is TMS Safe?

Over 5.6 million NeuroStar Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) treatments have been performed in over 156,000 patients since the FDA approved TMS in 2008.

A real-world study reported an 83% response rate. This means that 83% of patients that completed their NeuroStar treatment cycle saw measurable improvement in their depression symptoms.**

The same real-world study reported a 62% remission rate. This means that 62% of patients that completed their NeuroStar treatment cycle likely wouldn’t be diagnosed with MDD if they were first being evaluated by their doctor.**

Relief without Common Side effects of Antidepressant medications

NeuroStar TMS is not a drug, “shock” therapy, or surgery. And it doesn’t have any of the common side effects associated with traditional antidepressants.

There is no sedation, anesthesia, or recovery time and for most people the NeuroStar TMS treatment is relaxing. The most common side effect is mild to moderate pain or discomfort at the treatment site that usually subsides within the first week of treatment.

Patients considering TMS should communicate any history of seizures to the psychiatrist before commencing the treatment, as there exists a minimal risk of seizure, estimated to be less than 1%.

Click here for a full list of possible side effects associated with NeuroStar.

TMS Clinical Trials & Academic Studies

  • Carpenter LL, et al. (2012). Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) for Major Depression: A Multisite, Naturalistic, Observational Study of Acute Treatment Outcomes in Clinical Practice. Depression and Anxiety, 29(7):587-596. www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22689344
  • George MS, et al. (2010). Daily Left Prefrontal Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Therapy for Major Depressive Disorder: A Sham-Controlled Randomized Trial. Arch Gen Psychiatry, 67(5):507-516. www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20439832
  • Dunner DL, et al. (2014). A Multisite, Naturalistic, Observational Study of Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) for Patients with Pharmacoresistant Major Depressive Disorder: Durability of Benefit Over a 1-Year Follow-Up Period. J Clin Psychiatry. 75(12):1394-1401. www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25271871
  • O’Reardon JP, et al. (2007). Efficacy and Safety of Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation in the Acute Treatment of Major Depression: A Multisite Randomized Controlled Trial. Biol Psychiatry, 62(11):1208-1216. www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17573044
**Outcomes Registry data was published by Sackeim HA, et al. J Affective Disorders, 2020, 277(12):65-74. The outcomes reported represent the subset of study patients for which the CGI-S data was reported before and after an acute course of NeuroStar TMS. Patients were treated under real-world conditions where patients may have been prescribed concomitant depression treatments including medications. “Measurable relief” was defined as a CGI-S score <=3 and “complete remission” was defined as a CGI-S score <=2 at the end of treatment.