Side effects and contraindications
Is neuromodulation dangerous?
Provided good guidance, non-invasive neuromodulation is not dangerous and has few side effects..
Most people tolerate the stimulation very well.
During a TES treatment, you can experience light tingling and warmth under the electrode placement.
It is possible that light flashes are detected during a TRNS or a TACS procedure. That is completely normal. An explanation for this phenomenon is that power enters the retina. Because the retina is a particularly sensitive organ, potential differences will result in a flash of light.
After stimulation is terminated, the feeling of warmth, the tingling sensations or the flashes of light disappear.
It can happen that someone has a slight headache after a stimulation with TES. This, however, is rare and is of a temporary nature.
Very rarely, a small galvanic skin lesion of a few millimeters in size can occur. This is due to the conduction of the current to a too small point on the electrode. People with very sensitive skin are more susceptible to this phenomenon.
To prevent such a burn, the electrodes are regularly renewed and the sponges are sufficiently drenched with salt water.
TMS is a stimulation in which a strong magnetic field is generated. The stimulation provokes an action potential and therefore has an influence on the underlying muscles and peripheral nerve bundles. As a result, TMS is not perceived as pleasant. Especially the first pulsations are annoying, after a few minutes you get used to the stimulus and the stimulation is well tolerated. TMS does give more headache than the TES treatments.
Neurofeedback has no side effects.
When should neuromodulation not be used?
Extra care is required with implants on or in the head, such as BAHA hearing aids, cochlear implants, VPS shunt, brain electrodes and aneurysm clips.
A pacemaker or a Baclofen pump is not a contraindication.
Epilepsy is a contraindication for certain stimulation forms.
Pregnancy is not a contraindication in itself. Because the effect of neuromodulation on the unborn child is insufficiently known, there is no stimulus during the pregnancy period.