The Cognitive FX Blog

Very few clinics offer specialized treatment for post concussion syndrome (PCS). Cognitive FX specializes exclusively in treating the root causes of lingering post-concussion symptoms (as well as those caused by similar brain injury mechanisms, such as transient ischemic attack or carbon monoxide poisoning). Amen Clinics treats a wide variety of mental health disorders, emotional issues, and behavioral challenges, such as depression, anxiety, addictions, and anger. This article examines the differences in evaluation, treatment, support, and pricing of Amen Clinics vs. Cognitive FX for persistent symptoms of brain injury. 

Despite the fact that your concussion was weeks (or months or even years) ago, you’re still experiencing symptoms. Maybe they’re ever-present reminders of an injury you’d rather forget, or maybe they come and go as you attempt to live your life as fully as you can. Either way, you’re still suffering. What’s going on, and what can you do about it?

If you’ve suffered a concussion, you can usually expect to get better over the course of two weeks. (Concussions from sports injuries average 7–10 days, while recovery from concussions from other causes can take up to three months.) During this time, you might have your up and down days, but the upward trajectory should be there. Unfortunately, not all patients get better. In fact, up to 30% of post-concussion patients develop long-lasting symptoms. While those symptoms might stay stable, you could notice things getting worse instead of better.

Headaches are one of the most common symptoms after a head injury (studies show 70% of mTBI patients experience them, though 84% of our patients report having them). They can develop after mild, moderate, or severe injuries. For many patients, the headaches develop for the first time shortly after the injury. For others, the injury causes pre-existing headaches, such as migraines, to worsen. 

Concussions can have long-term physical, cognitive, and emotional effects. Symptoms such as brain fog, headaches, and depression can last for months or years after the initial injury. When the effects of a concussion last for three months or more, we call it post-concussion syndrome (PCS).

Headaches. Dizziness. Brain fog. Constant fatigue. Feeling overwhelmed or like your emotions can’t stabilize. These and so many other symptoms can remain for months, or even years, after a concussion. If you feel like your recovery is excruciatingly slow, you’re not alone. Up to 30% of people who suffer a concussion experience persistent symptoms for months or years later. 

Headache pain is the most common symptom after a traumatic brain injury, with up to 90% of patients experiencing this symptom for at least a few days after suffering a concussion. These headaches can also develop after other causes of head trauma, such as bacterial and viral brain infections, carbon monoxide poisoning, “chemo” brain, transient ischemic attack, and COVID-19. 

Head injuries vary wildly in severity. You could suffer anything from debilitating brain damage to a few days of feeling “off” before returning to normal. You might suffer a moderate traumatic brain injury and feel no lasting effects, or suffer from persistent symptoms after “just” a mild TBI. 

Have you ever caught yourself holding your breath while doing something challenging? Or feeling lightheaded and breathing faster when you stand up after sitting for a long time? Maybe you often have rosy cheeks without a reasonable cause, like exercise.

Diagnosing a concussion can be a challenging process. There is no definitive test to confirm the diagnosis with 100% certainty. Instead, doctors often rely on subjective descriptions of symptoms and simple neurological examinations to check systems such as vision, balance, and cognition. 

Concussions, a type of traumatic brain injury (TBI), pose potentially significant health issues no matter their severity. Despite this, as many as five in 10 concussions aren’t reported or detected.

Have you ever gotten stuck in a task, set it aside for a while, and then discovered that it somehow seemed easy when you came back to it? If so, you’ve experienced the power of strategic breaks to re-energize your brain. If you’re recovering from a traumatic brain injury, these breaks play a vital role in revitalizing your brain throughout the day. 

If you’ve been struggling with lingering symptoms after a brain injury and even a mild jog is enough to trigger misery, then you might flinch at the idea of high-intensity interval training as a recovery method. But there is a way to exercise while keeping your symptom levels down.

If you have post-concussion syndrome (PCS), then you likely know how difficult it is to get an accurate diagnosis and comprehensive treatment. Many medical doctors don’t have the resources to treat PCS effectively, or they rely exclusively on pharmaceuticals that help some symptoms while making others worse. So when you find a healthcare provider who (a) actually knows what post-concussion syndrome is, and (b) claims to treat it, then it’s worth following up.

Many people have neck pain after a concussion or whiplash injury. It may show up immediately after your injury or weeks to months afterward. That pain may involve stiffness, tension, sharp pain, and pain associated with certain movements or behaviors (e.g., looking at your phone). The pain may feel deep or superficial.

Tingling hands following a concussion (mild traumatic brain injury, or mTBI) might sound relatively minor, but for anyone who’s had the misfortune to experience this symptom, it can be painful, puzzling, and disruptive to daily activities.

Many doctors’ first response to a concussion is to recommend resting in a dark room until symptoms go away. And if that doesn’t work (and it won’t for up to 30% of post-concussion patients), their next step is often to prescribe medications for the symptoms that haven’t gone away.

Post-concussion syndrome is an “invisible” illness.

Following concussions and traumatic brain injuries (TBIs), impaired vision and vision-related symptoms are common. Signs and common symptoms include blurred vision, light sensitivity, light-related headaches, eye movement issues, and more.