What if, alongside a little Ultherapy for a saggy neck and a few zaps of Clear + Brilliant laser for loathsome sun spots, you could boost your mood and zap brain fog on the same office visit? Courtesy of a new magnetic-field treatment dubbed Exomind, patients of Manhattan dermatologist Dr. Paul Jarrod Frank can do exactly that.
And no one sounds more excited about Exomind than Frank himself.
“I actually went to medical school to become a psychiatrist, and I feel that I use my skills and background in psychology every day,” Frank says. “With the overwhelming demand and advancements in functional and longevity medicine, beauty, health, and wellness no longer sit on opposite ends of the cafeteria. They are all integrally woven into helping people achieve the best version of themselves.”
That level of self-actualization doesn’t come cheap; at Frank’s practice, the recommended six-session course of treatment clocks in at $4,800. And while the skin doc assures that lasting effects kick-in after the third session, most partakers can expect occasional maintenance visits to stay on track.
Created by Prague-based medical device purveyor BTL, Exomind is a non-invasive brain stimulation treatment designed to improve mental and emotional well-being and is FDA-approved for the treatment of depression. In Canada, it also gets the green light for helping to tackle anxiety, OCD and issues with compulsive eating.
According to Frank, who deploys multiple BTL-crafted devices at his practice, including Emsculpt for body contouring and Emsella for treating postpartum incontinence, Exomind is based on well-established technology called TMS (transcranial magnetic stimulation). To drill down the science, magnetic fields are used to boost neuron activity in the dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex, the portion of the brain that regulates mood and emotional processing.
“The problem with the older versions of TMS technology is that they were very time-consuming, requiring multiple consecutive days for hours at a time,” says Frank. “It wasn’t realistic for patients unless they had severe emotional and mental disease states.”
Although Frank isn’t expecting his own patient population to seek out Exomind for the treatment of major mental illness, they may be looking for help with dealing with digital distraction and the stress and anxiety of city life. And for many, the hope of getting off prescription meds via soothing, 30-minute Exomind sessions is enough of a lure to give them a go.
New York City-based media buyer Olivia Kessler, who completed her sixth Exomind session at the PFrankMD Upper East Side office in February, found the treatments so chill she even fell asleep during one of them.
Having already tried Emsculpt, Kessler was familiar with the technology and trusted Frank’s suggestion that Exomind might be another tool in her kit to help with mood swings generated by her longstanding PCOS (polycystic ovary syndrome).
A “naturally stressed” city dweller who says she feels the need to be hypervigilant at all times, Kessler was also seeking an alternative to the generic version of Prozac her doctor prescribed for dealing with her pre-menstrual emotional rollercoaster.
Not only has Exomind helped with mood regulation, it’s also curbed any tendency Kessler had toward procrastination. “I feel like I have a pep in my step,” she says, “a little extra energy that I didn’t have before.”
For Kessler, parking herself on Frank’s office couch with an electro-magnetic skullcap for half an hour at a pop has been worth the time and money.
“I stan Exomind,” says Kessler. “And I definitely stan trying not to be on medications forever.”