Published peer-reviewed research shows that Cognitive FX treatment leads to meaningful symptom reduction in post-concussion symptoms for 77% of study participants. Cognitive FX is the only PCS clinic with third-party validated treatment outcomes.
Post-concussion symptoms are the headaches, brain fog, fatigue and other problems that last after a head injury instead of fading in the usual few weeks. Between October 2024 and October 2026, 6,654 people asked Cognitive FX for help with a head injury. Of the 2,385 who gave the date of their most recent injury, 53% were more than a year past it and 22% were more than five years past it.
This page reports what they told us on our intake paperwork: how long their symptoms had lasted, whether they were getting better, which scans and doctors they had already tried, how they slept, and how the cause of the injury changed the picture. Every number below shows how many people answered that question.
Key numbers
6,654 people with lasting head injury symptoms
53 in 100
were more than a year past their most recent head injury
Of 2,385 who gave an injury date
Each dot is 1 in 100 people. Cognitive FX intake paperwork, October 2024 to October 2026. People came from 71 countries and all 50 US states plus Washington, D.C.
How long had their concussion symptoms lasted?
The typical person had been living with symptoms for about 14 months, measured from their most recent head injury to the day they filled out our paperwork. One in five had been dealing with them for more than five years. Here is what an old head injury can feel like years later.
Time since most recent head injury
Pick a group
All head injuries: 2,385 people who gave an injury date
Under 3 months
24%
3 to 12 months
22%
1 to 2 years
15%
2 to 5 years
17%
5 to 10 years
10%
More than 10 years
12%
53% were more than a year out. Typical time: about 14 months.
People could name more than one cause, so a person can appear in more than one group.
Do concussion symptoms get worse over time?
For many of the people we heard from, they did. The longer it had been since the injury, the more people said their symptoms were getting worse and the fewer said they were improving. We cover the reasons in why concussion symptoms get worse.
Say their symptoms are getting worse
24% under a year out, 39% after 10 years
Under 1 year after the injury, 1,077 people
24% getting worse
67% no change or up and down
9% getting better
Tap a point on the line, or play it. Answers to “Are your symptoms currently getting...” from 2,321 people who also gave an injury date.
Only 7% of everyone who answered said their symptoms were getting better. A third said nothing had changed, and about a quarter said they came and went.
Had they already had a CT scan or MRI?
Most had. 72% had a CT scan or a structural MRI before they reached us, and 29% had both. Standard scans are built to find bleeding, fractures and other structural damage, and people kept looking for answers after them. Read what an MRI can show after a concussion and whether a CT scan shows a concussion.
Tests people had before contacting us
72% had a CT scan or MRI
CT scan
59%
Structural MRI
42%
EEG
14%
Functional MRI
12%
No tests at all
21%
Share of the 2,871 people who answered “What diagnostic tests have you had since your injury?” People could pick more than one. The form asks which tests people had, not what the results showed.
How many kinds of doctors had they seen?
49% had already seen three or more kinds of providers, and 18% had seen five or more. Family doctors, neurologists and physical therapists were the most common stops. 12% had seen none of them. Our guide to head injury doctors explains who treats what.
Providers seen before contacting us
49% had seen three or more kinds
Family doctor
59%
Neurologist
52%
Physical therapist
46%
Chiropractor
32%
Psychiatrist
25%
Occupational therapist
22%
Neuropsychologist
16%
Sports medicine
15%
Share of the 6,000 people who answered “Have you tried other treatments or seen other providers?”
Which symptoms are most common when a concussion won’t go away?
Trouble concentrating, fatigue and brain fog each affected about three in four people. The typical person checked 9 symptoms, and 84% checked five or more. 66% rated the impact on work, school and daily life 8 or higher out of 10. See our guides to post-concussion fatigue and post-concussion dizziness.
Symptoms people reported
The typical person reported 9
Trouble concentrating
76%
Fatigue
76%
Brain fog
75%
Headache
69%
Anxiety or irritability
68%
Memory problems
67%
Sleep problems
57%
Head pressure
57%
Dizziness
56%
Light sensitivity
55%
Noise sensitivity
54%
Neck pain
52%
Share of the 5,135 people who filled out the symptom checklist.
How does a concussion affect sleep?
We asked people how many hours they slept before their injury and how many they sleep now. Average sleep fell from 7.5 hours to 6.7. The share sleeping five hours or less rose from 5% before the injury to 24% after it. Here is what to do about sleep after a concussion.
Sleep before and after the injury
36% lost two or more hours a night
7.5 → 6.7average hours of sleep, before the injury and now
5% → 24%sleep five hours or less
36%lost two or more hours a night
2,761 people answered both sleep questions. 13% now sleep two or more hours more than before.
Does the cause of the head injury change the symptoms?
Yes. People hurt in sports were younger (median age 28) and more often men, and 40% reported four or more head injuries, compared with 24% after car accidents. Car accident and workplace injuries looked alike, with more neck pain (62% and 63%), more lost sleep (45% and 47%) and more worsening (38% and 37%) than sports injuries. Read more about brain injuries from car accidents and the long-term effects of whiplash.
Compare by cause of injury
Pick a measure
Share who reported four or more head injuries
Car accident1,810 people, median age 43
24%
Sports1,691 people, median age 28
40%
Other accident2,292 people, median age 42
29%
Workplace667 people, median age 46
31%
Highest after sports injuries (40%), lowest after car accident injuries (24%).
People could name more than one cause, so a person can appear in more than one group. Symptom measures use the people in each group who filled out the symptom checklist.
In an independent study by Amsterdam UMC and UMC Groningen, 77% of the 52 patients measured six months after treatment at Cognitive FX had a clinically meaningful drop in symptoms (Tijdschrift voor Neuropsychologie, 2024). The study was observational, and individual results vary.
If these numbers sound like your last year, start with a free consult.
Call (385) 375-8590 if you would rather talk first.
How was this data collected?
Source: 11,481 intake forms submitted to Cognitive FX from October 1, 2024 to October 30, 2026, across three versions of our patient paperwork.
People: duplicate forms from the same person were merged, leaving 11,268 people. This page covers the 6,654 who described a concussion, post-concussion syndrome, mild TBI or TBI.
Self-reported: every answer comes from the person filling out the form (or a parent). These are not diagnoses or medical records.
Who this describes: people whose symptoms lasted long enough that they looked for specialized care. Most people who have a concussion never fill out a form like ours, so these numbers do not describe everyone with a concussion.
Privacy: results are reported only as totals. No individual answers are published.
Citing this page: please link to it and name Cognitive FX as the source.
Alina Fong, Ph.D. is a clinical neuropsychologist and the Clinical Director and Co-Founder of Cognitive FX. She earned her Ph.D. in Clinical Neuropsychology with an emphasis in Neuroimaging from Brigham Young University, where she received the American Psychological Association Division 40 Graduate Student Research Award for her neuroimaging research. Dr. Fong has over 17 years of clinical experience treating traumatic brain injury, beginning with her work at the VA Salt Lake City Healthcare System and Utah Valley Regional Medical Center, where she directed the neurotrauma rehabilitation and sports concussion clinics. She developed the EPIC Treatment protocol and has personally overseen treatment for nearly 8,000 brain injury patients, including professional athletes from the NFL, NHL, and Olympics. She serves as Vice President of the Brain Injury Alliance of Utah, sits on the board of the United States Brain Injury Alliance, and advises PINK Concussions. Dr. Fong has authored peer-reviewed research on functional MRI and concussion treatment and has presented at over 60 medical conferences, including the Federal Interagency Conference on TBI and the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine.
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