Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Can Help You Feel Good Again!
Have you been struggling for years with persistent pain? Do you notice your mental state seems to be getting worse? Are you looking for a way to find lasting relief? At Albatross Physical Therapy and Wellness in Wheaton, our team is highly trained in helping people with acute and chronic pain, and depression.
We use the most advanced strategies and treatments, including transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), to help you manage your pain and get back to the activities you have been avoiding due to the pain or depression!
Pain affects people in different ways. We now know that pain is influenced by multiple factors, including physical, mental/emotional, and cultural differences. Symptoms can persist for weeks to years and become chronic and even debilitating for some. In addition, research has shown that people with chronic pain are more likely to be diagnosed with depression.
Pain is a significant factor that disrupts an individual’s routine, including at home or work. In addition, although pain is one of the main reasons people seek medical care too often, the preferred treatment is some prescription medication that, although it can help reduce symptoms in the short term, rarely offers any long-term help and, in some cases, makes the situation worse.
Fortunately, there is another way! If you are suffering from pain and want to learn more about how TMS can help you feel good again, don’t hesitate to request an appointment today! At Albatross Physical Therapy and Wellness in Wheaton, our team understands the complexity of pain management and how to guide you to relief effectively.
What Is Pain?
Pain is an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage. As physical therapists, we commonly deal with musculoskeletal pain, which is defined as pain that affects bones, joints, ligaments, tendons, or muscles. We are also highly skilled at treating people with long-standing pain conditions like fibromyalgia.
Pain is typically divided into two main categories, acute and chronic.
Acute pain: This type of pain begins suddenly and is typically sharp in quality. Acute pain might be caused by many events or circumstances, including:
- Surgical pain
- Traumatic pain (i.e., broken bone and/or sprain/strains)
Chronic Pain: This type of pain lasts beyond the expected recovery period and/or occurs with a chronic health condition (i.e., fibromyalgia, arthritis, etc.). Although people often feel their pain is constant, most experience cyclical pain. Meaning the pain has hills and valleys.
One of the classic signs of chronic pain is the period of improvement becoming shorter, whereas the periods of severe pain become longer. Other factors often contribute to chronic pain, including:
Beliefs about the body and beliefs about pain play an influential role in behavioral and emotional responses to musculoskeletal pain. In other words, what a person believes and how they respond to pain can influence how long they have pain and how disabled they will be.
People with depression and anxiety experience the most significant pain severity and pain-related disability. In addition, mental health impairments like depression also lead to longer durations of pain and a poorer overall quality of life.
Sleep also plays a significant role in the development of chronic pain. Unfortunately, it is difficult to know if pain affects sleep or if lack of sleep affects pain. In all likelihood, it is a combination of both factors influencing the other.
Regardless of the type of pain you are dealing with, our team at Albatross Physical Therapy and Wellness in Wheaton can help!
What Is Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS)?
Transcranial magnetic stimulation is a safe, noninvasive treatment method that uses repetitive pulses from magnets to stimulate nerve cells in a specific region of the brain that is thought to be impaired from chronic pain and is associated with depression.
At Albatross Physical Therapy and Wellness in Wheaton, our highly skilled team will position our TMS unit near your forehead to target the specific region in the brain to help alleviate your pain and improve symptoms of depression.
The electromagnetic coil in the TMS machine will painlessly deliver a magnetic pulse stimulating the nerve cells in the region of your brain involved in mood control and depression. These magnetic impulses are thought to activate areas of the brain that have decreased activity due to chronic pain conditions like fibromyalgia and help to improve symptoms of depression.
Through repetitive TMS treatments stimulating the nerves and inducing changes in brain activity, you can finally find relief in your pain and improve your mood. The growing body of research has shown that TMS has few side effects and multiple benefits for people dealing with physical and mental disorders.
What To Expect At Your Physical Therapy Visits
At Albatross Physical Therapy and Wellness in Wheaton, our physical therapists understand how important it is to address the totality of the individual. Although pain is a physical phenomenon, it is also influenced by mental/emotional factors, and neglecting any aspect of your whole body may affect the severity and duration of pain.
Your initial evaluation will consist of a thorough history and physical examination to determine all the factors contributing to your condition and experience of pain. We will devise a plan incorporating the physical, psychological, emotional, and social or occupational factors for optimal healing and pain relief.
Our team will use proven techniques, including targeted manual therapy, exercises (including aerobic exercises), and safe and highly effective TMS treatments to help alleviate your pain. Multiple insurance carriers pay for TMS treatments, including BCBS, Medicare, Aetna, United, Tricare, Humana, and Cigna.
No matter the nature of your condition, our team can help!
Request An Appointment at Albatross Physical Therapy and Wellness in Wheaton today!
At Albatross Physical Therapy and Wellness in Wheaton, we understand the multitude of factors that contribute to the experience of pain and, more importantly, the resolution of pain.
Call today to learn more about TMS and how we can help you feel good again!
Sources:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/B9780444640321000370
https://journals.lww.com/ajpmr/Fulltext/2021/02000/Effects_of_High_Frequency_Neuronavigated.7.aspx
https://academic.oup.com/painmedicine/article-abstract/23/3/499/6372702
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7808677/
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S141335552030407X