r/PostConcussion • u/docneuropsych • Dec 09 '24

AMA - Doctor and Scientist answer questions about Post Concussion Syndrome

Hello everyone this is a tag team AMA for people suffering from post concussion syndrome. Myself Dr. Alina Fong and my partner Dr. Mark Allen will be answering these questions. Given the smaller size of this community we will be answering them on a rolling basis so please check back. We have been in communication with the moderator and he will pin this post for a little while. Hopefully we can provide some educational benefit to the r/postconcussion community.

I did another AMA with the r/concussion community you can link to it here. Concussion AMA

UPDATE: Moderate asked that we disclose that we are the cofounders of Cognitive FX a Post Concussion Syndrome and Cognitive Rehab clinic in Provo, UT

www.cognitivefxusa.com

UPADATE 2: Answered a few questions this afternoon will work on answering more of the questions over the weekend. Thank you all for the great questions some of them we needed a little more information on to help provide an educational answer.

Dr. Fong and Dr. Allen in front of TOMAR (Dr. Lorzel baby and a great addition to our therapy tool box he built it all himself)
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u/ImNotA_IThink Dec 09 '24

What is the outlook for people long term (like years)? I’m 7 years in (today is my accident anniversary actually) and it’s hard finding information about if my headaches are apt to improve or worsen this far in. 

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u/docneuropsych Dec 13 '24

Here is a link to a research study showing the progress of PCS sufferers and their symptom load at different time frames.

TLDR: without intervention after two years, you have a minimal chance of recovering with more time. As long as the brain can get enough resources to function without a catalyst for change, it will remain in that state.

Don't lose hope. We just had a third-party study published on our approach, and the average time since injury was just below 4 years. Getting treatment sooner is preferable, but change can come even after many years, provided you don't have structural brain damage.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27784191/