Safety and Side Effects

TMS is considered a safe treatment. It is an outpatient treatment that requires no anesthesia or surgery, and once patients complete their TMS session for the day, they are free to leave the clinic and resume normal daily activities (such as attending work, driving a car, etc.)

Patients may experience some common side effects such as: minor scalp discomfort, pain, headaches, or lightheadedness. Additionally, during stimulation, they may also experience some facial twitching. However, these side effects often reside after patients complete more TMS treatments, and your TMS technician can adjust the stimulation intensity to minimize discomfort.

Rare side effects include seizures; however, the risk is extremely low (a recent study reports it as 3 in 100,000 sessions)¹. Similarly, you will only be cleared for TMS if you do not have any risk factors or conditions that could increase your seizure risk.

1. Taylor, J. J., Newberger, N. G., Stern, A. P., Phillips, A., Feifel, D., Betensky, R. A., & Press, D. Z. (2021). Seizure risk with repetitive TMS: Survey results from over a half-million treatment sessions. Brain Stimulation, 14(4), 965–973. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brs.2021.05.012

The following are contraindications for TMS:

  • History of seizure(s)/seizure disorders

  • Metal implants in the head or neck

  • Aneurysm clips/coils

  • Implanted brain stimulators/electrodes