rTMS for Chronic Pain and Fibromyalgia: Rewiring the Brain at Its Root · London
Chronic pain is a neural experience. The circuits driving it are measurable, targetable and capable of change.
precision rTMS for anxiety in london
At Naya Health, we use precision rTMS to restore and regulate the neural circuits underlying chronic pain and fibromyalgia.
The experience of chronic pain runs far deeper than the site of pain itself. The brain, through its neural circuits governing perception, emotional regulation and threat response, plays a central role in how pain is produced and sustained.
In chronic pain, fibromyalgia and neuropathic pain, these circuits can become dysregulated, amplifying pain signals long after their original cause has resolved. At Naya Health, we use precision rTMS to work directly at those neural circuits, gently recalibrating the brain networks involved in how pain is processed and regulated.
Non-invasive, drug-free, and guided by objective measurement throughout.
For those who have lived with chronic pain or fibromyalgia without finding lasting relief, Naya offers something different: precision neuromodulation, rewiring the brain at its root.
we are a Precision rTMS clinic in London
A Chronic Pain Clinic Built on Precision rTMS · London
Naya Health is a precision neuromodulation clinic based in Marylebone, London. We work with a range of chronic pain presentations, including fibromyalgia, neuropathic pain, chronic musculoskeletal pain, chronic tension, and pain presenting alongside depression, anxiety or fatigue.
Your treatment is led by Dr Andy Franklyn-Miller, Chief Medical Officer, and Dr Greg Shields, Consultant Psychiatrist, alongside a specialist team of neuromodulation clinicians. Each protocol is personalised, mapped to your NayaScore™ biometric baseline, and refined with care throughout your programme.
rTMS for chronic pain is supported by a growing and compelling clinical evidence base, including significant reductions in pain severity in fibromyalgia and neuropathic pain. Non-invasive, drug-free, and with minimal side effects.
Your rTMS Treatment for Chronic Pain: What to Expect
Step 1: Initial Consultation and Assessment
Every treatment journey at Naya begins with a NayaScore™ assessment, an objective, multi-domain measure of your brain health and regulatory capacity. For those living with chronic pain or fibromyalgia, this gives us a precise neurological baseline that reflects how your brain is currently processing pain, forming the foundation from which your entire protocol is designed.
Step 2: Your Personalised rTMS Programme
You will complete a series of sessions at our London clinic in Marylebone, each lasting around 30 minutes. You remain comfortable and awake throughout, with no anaesthesia or recovery time needed. Your protocol is custom-designed around your NayaScore™ baseline, guided by your biology at every stage. Before each session, NayaState™ preparation primes your brain and nervous system to receive treatment, optimising the conditions for neuroplastic change
Step 3: Ongoing Measurement and Next Steps
Your NayaScore™ builds a clear, longitudinal picture of how your brain is restoring and recalibrating throughout your programme. At the close of treatment, your clinician reviews your progress with you and recommends a path forward. For many patients, the brain continues to consolidate change long after the final session.
Precision Chronic Pain Treatment · London
When pain outlasts its cause, precision neuromodulation works at its neural root.
Chronic pain is one of the most undertreated conditions in modern medicine. Fibromyalgia alone affects an estimated 1 in 20 people in the UK.
Conventional approaches such as medication, physiotherapy and pain management programmes have an important role to play, and for many they bring meaningful relief. For a significant number of people, the pain persists.
Naya was built for that gap: precision neuromodulation, rewiring the brain at its root, guided by objective measurement from the first session to the last.
Chronic pain is one of the most undertreated conditions in modern medicine. Fibromyalgia alone affects an estimated 1 in 20 people in the UK.
Conventional approaches such as medication, physiotherapy and pain management programmes have an important role to play, and for many they bring meaningful relief. For a significant number of people, the pain persists.
Naya was built for that gap: precision neuromodulation, rewiring the brain at its root, guided by objective measurement from the first session to the last.
rTMS for Fibromyalgia and Chronic Pain: Precision Neuromodulation for Every Presentation
Chronic pain & fibromyalgia: when pain becomes the pattern
Chronic pain and fibromyalgia are characterised by widespread pain, fatigue, cognitive difficulty and sleep disruption. At its neurological core, it involves a state of central sensitisation, where the brain’s pain networks become persistently overactive, amplifying signals across the body. rTMS for chronic pain and fibromyalgia works directly at those networks, targeting the prefrontal circuits involved in pain regulation to gradually restore more adaptive processing. Fibromyalgia and chronic pain treatment of this kind, non-invasive, drug-free, and grounded in objective measurement, offers a pathway that addresses the condition at its neurological source.
Neuropathic pain
Neuropathic pain has one of the strongest evidence bases for rTMS of any chronic pain presentation. It arises when the nervous system itself becomes the source of pain signals, generating persistent discomfort in the absence of ongoing tissue damage. The brain’s pain-processing pathways become sensitised and dysregulated, sustaining pain that conventional treatments often struggle to reach.
Precision rTMS targets those pathways directly. Through gentle, repeated stimulation of the prefrontal circuits involved in pain modulation, it works to recalibrate the neural patterns sustaining neuropathic pain. Non-invasive, drug-free, and guided by objective measurement throughout.
Chronic pain alongside depression, anxiety, chronic fatigue or fibromyalgia
Chronic pain rarely arrives in isolation. Fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome and depression frequently coexist with chronic pain, and they share overlapping neural circuits in pain processing, mood regulation and autonomic function. For many people, these conditions reinforce each other: pain worsens mood, fatigue deepens the pain experience, and depression lowers the threshold at which pain is felt.
Naya’s precision neuromodulation approach works across these shared circuits, with each protocol personalised to your individual presentation. If you are also experiencing depression, anxiety or chronic fatigue alongside chronic pain, these can be addressed within the same treatment pathway. See also our dedicated pages on depression, anxiety and chronic fatigue for more information on how Naya approaches each condition.
Chronic musculoskeletal pain and persistent tension
For those living with chronic musculoskeletal pain or persistent tension that has not resolved with conventional approaches, neuromodulation therapy offers a more direct route to the circuits involved. Several of our practitioners are osteopaths, and are able to assess and treat the muscular structures involved in pain presentations alongside precision rTMS — the same gentle magnetic pulses can also be delivered directly to affected muscles where clinically appropriate, offering a more comprehensive approach to treatment.
NAYASCORE™ IS PROPRIETARY TO NAYA HEALTH AND UNAVAILABLE AT ANY OTHER CLINIC
NayaScore™: Objective Measurement at Every Stage of Your Chronic Pain Treatment
Most pain assessments rely on self-reported measures. These have value, but they capture how pain feels rather than the neurological patterns generating it.
NayaScore™ brings an objective layer to this picture. Drawing on heart rate variability, cognitive function, metabolic markers and clinical assessment, it builds a precise neurological baseline that reflects your brain’s regulatory capacity, a measurable foundation from which to restore, regulate and recalibrate.
Throughout your chronic pain treatment, NayaScore™ gives you and your clinical team a clear, longitudinal view of how your brain is restoring and rewiring, where it is heading, and what is shifting beneath the surface.
the role of precision rtms in treatment outcomes
NayaScore™: what objective measurement makes possible
1. Precision targeting. Your rTMS protocol is mapped to the specific circuits involved in your pain presentation, ensuring stimulation reaches exactly where it is needed.
2. Objective evidence of change. As your fibromyalgia or chronic pain treatment progresses, NayaScore™ tracks how your brain is restoring and recalibrating, giving you a clear, measurable picture of what is shifting across your programme.
3. A shared clinical picture. Your NayaScore™ data is visible to your wider clinical team, whether that is your GP, pain specialist or therapist, creating a joined-up view of your neurological health.
4. A longitudinal record of your brain health. NayaScore™ builds over time, tracking your neurological baseline across months and years, so that changes are identified early and responded to with precision.
The Evidence
The evidence for rTMS in chronic pain and fibromyalgia is growing and compelling. A 2025 study by Nation et al. found significant improvements in pain severity, mood and overall symptom burden following 20 sessions. At Naya, stimulation targets are carefully selected based on each individual's specific pain presentation. For presentations involving autonomic dysregulation, our neurocardiac-guided approach further personalises treatment, selecting targets based on each individual's measurable physiological response.
rTMS for Depression:
rTMS for Chronic Pain: Safe, Gentle, and Well Tolerated
Precision care that is gentle on the nervous system
rTMS is extremely safe and one of the most well-tolerated approaches to chronic pain treatment available. For those who have carried the side effect burden of long-term pain medication, this is one of the most significant aspects of what precision neuromodulation offers.
Where side effects occur, they are mild and transient. The most commonly reported are a mild headache on the night of treatment, or some fatigue, which can easily be addressed by reducing the frequency of sessions.
Beyond these, the only clinically significant risk associated with rTMS is seizure, occurring in fewer than 0.0016% of treatments. It has never occurred at Naya Health. Thorough pre-treatment screening ensures any potential susceptibility is identified and addressed before treatment begins.
heart-brain coupling for personalised rtms
The heart-brain connection: personalised rTMS guided by your biology
The neural pathways that govern pain perception, stress and emotional regulation are closely connected to cardiac function. In chronic pain and fibromyalgia, this system is frequently dysregulated, and the heart provides a measurable, accessible window into that state.
At Naya, we use this connection to guide precision rTMS where it is clinically appropriate. By measuring heart rate response across multiple stimulation sites, we identify the precise target that most effectively engages each individual’s regulatory brain network. Specific treatment targets vary depending on your presentation: neurocardiac guidance is most relevant for conditions involving autonomic dysregulation, and your protocol is designed accordingly.
Naya is currently the only clinic in the UK offering neurocardiac-guided rTMS.
FAQ
How is fibromyalgia treated on the NHS?
NHS treatment typically includes pain medication, physiotherapy, and CBT; approaches that help some people manage, but rarely address the underlying neurological dysfunction.
What are non-drug treatments for fibromyalgia pain in the UK?
Physiotherapy, CBT, mindfulness, and graded exercise are the most common non-drug options. But they address how you cope with pain, not what's generating it. rTMS works differently, directly modulating the brain circuits driving your symptoms. Naya is the leading private provider of rTMS for fibromyalgia in London.
Does fibromyalgia treatment focus on pain, sleep, or fatigue?
At Naya, we treat all three because they share the same neurological root. Central sensitisation affects pain, sleep, and energy simultaneously, and treating one in isolation isn't enough. Your rTMS protocol is personalised using NayaScore™ data to target your specific pattern of dysregulation as a whole.
Do you treat fibromyalgia and chronic widespread pain?
Yes. Fibromyalgia is a primary focus at Naya. We also see patients with chronic widespread pain who don't yet have a formal diagnosis, particularly those with normal scans and incomplete investigations. If your pain has lasted more than three months and hasn't responded to standard treatment, a discovery call is a good place to start.
How can rTMS help with fibromyalgia pain and fatigue?
rTMS targets the part of your brain responsible for moderating pain and regulating energy, a region that becomes chronically underactive in fibromyalgia. By restoring its function, rTMS helps quiet the amplified pain signals and supports better energy regulation. Improvements continue building through neuroplasticity long after treatment ends.
How long does pain relief from rTMS last for fibromyalgia?
Because rTMS works through neuroplasticity, the effects aren't a temporary mask; your brain is forming new, more stable patterns of activity. Many people continue improving for weeks or months after their final session. Maintenance sessions are available if symptoms recur, particularly after significant stress or illness.
Is non-invasive neuromodulation available for fibromyalgia in the UK?
Yes. rTMS requires no surgery, no implants, and no anaesthesia. You're awake and comfortable throughout. It's NICE-approved for treatment-resistant depression and has a growing evidence base for fibromyalgia and chronic pain. Naya is currently the only UK clinic combining rTMS with the NayaScore™ neurological assessment.
How do I book a fibromyalgia treatment consultation in London?
Start with a free 15-minute discovery call via the Naya website, no referral needed, and no formal diagnosis required. If rTMS seems right for you, you'll be invited to a full NayaScore™ assessment before treatment begins. The clinical team will review your case individually and guide you from there.
My fibromyalgia medication is not working. What else can help?
If amitriptyline, pregabalin, duloxetine, or other medications haven't given you real relief, rTMS offers a different route entirely. It's non-drug, non-invasive, and works by directly modulating the brain circuits driving your pain, not blocking neurotransmitters systemically. Many people at Naya arrive having exhausted NHS prescribing options. A free discovery call is the right first step.
What questions should I ask a clinic about fibromyalgia treatment?
The right questions are: How is treatment personalised? How are outcomes measured? What's the evidence base? What happens if it doesn't work? At Naya, we welcome all of these, and a free 15-minute discovery call is exactly the right place to ask them.