Frequently Asked Questions
How confident should I be that I will get better if I come for treatment?
Third-party and our internal tracking show that roughly 75% of patients will get significantly better with treatment. The remainder will see some improvement in symptoms but not return to pre-injury levels. Between 5% and 7% of patients will see no improvement with treatment or a temporary regression of symptoms. We are improving at identifying what types of brain injuries don't respond to our treatment.
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How does the fMRI allow you to customize my treatment?
All patients begin with an fMRI of their brain before we begin treatment. This allows us to examine how your brain activates when performing standard tasks. We compare that with a database of healthy brains. From the scan, we can determine which brain areas are not working as they should. We can then customize the Prepare, Activate, Recovery protocol for your specific needs.
How is Cognitive FX different than other clinics?
Instead of conducting interviews with the patient about their symptoms, we take a more accurate approach and scan the brain, looking for differences between an injured brain and a normal brain.
Symptoms don't match up with the area of the brain that needs treatment. Hyperactivation across brain regions results in fatigue and headaches, even though it may just be a few overactive regions that are causing all the symptoms. On the other hand, hypoactivation (low brain activation) can result in brain fog, taking longer to think, etc. Without knowing what areas are impaired, it is hard to know where to focus treatment.
Secondly, during the week, we promote brain plasticity and stress the brain so it will try to remodel the neural pathways it had preinjury. To do that effectively, you can't have one or two appointments a week. The brain typically won't change 6 months after an injury without some serious work.
What is treatment like, and what kinds of treatment will I get?
Treatment will last 1 or 2 weeks depending on your injury severity and, to a lesser degree, age. Treatment is between 6-9 hours every day for the week, with a shorter day on Friday to accommodate an exit scan. We follow a Prepare, Activate and Recovery strategy for treatment. The types of therapy you could receive are: physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, cognitive therapy, vision therapy, massage, vestibular therapy, brain wave entrainment, CO2 therapy, dynavision, NSI, Righteye, TOMAR, REAX Board, HIIT, psychology.
The activation portion of the treatment is the most individualized. The Prepare phase is based on increasing the blood flow and creating neurochemicals (BDNF, dopamine, acetylcholine, etc.) that help with brain plasticity and neurogenesis.
How do I know if Cognitive FX is right for me and my injury?
If you have been dealing with symptoms for over 9 months, the research shows that without intervention, the likelihood of recovery is very low. The above data shows that 77% returned to normal SCAT 5 testing results. The average patient was over 4 years post-injury, so there is hope.
If you are longer than 6 months post-injury and symptoms aren't improving or worsening, you are an ideal patient. If you have had multiple concussions and have severe symptoms and you are less than 6 months old, you are also an ideal treatment candidate. If you have only had one concussion and are less than 6 months continue with your local treatment or see if you will recover. If, after 6-9 months, you haven't improved, reach out to us.
Will I be able to do treatment with my symptoms?
We have treated thousands of patients that have post-concussion syndrome or a mild TBI. We have lots of techniques that will help lessen any flair-up in symptoms. We also schedule recovery sessions in your schedule so you can rest and prepare for the next activation window.
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