The Importance and Simple Way to Keep a Pain Diary for Chronic Pain, Fibromyalgia, Cancer, and Other Chronic Pain Ailments

If you are suffering from chronic pain, fibromyalgia, cancer, or any other ailment that causes chronic pain, it is important to consider to keep a pain diary. Pain diaries can not only help you, but can also help your physician tremendously in determining your diagnosis.

What is a Pain Diary?

A pain diary is a diary where you record your chronic pain from any aliment that causes you chronic pain, including fibromyalgia, cancer or any other problems that cause chronic pain. A pain diary is simply like a journal or a personal diary, but you are recording your pain on a scale from 1 - 10 when your pain occurred, what body part of the body did you feel the pain or your increased pain, the activity your were doing at the time, what you did to relieve your pain by taking medications or other therapies and then rating your pain in another hour to see if the pain was relieved from your medication or therapy.

Why is a Pain Diary Important for you and your physician?

If you are suffering from chronic pain, fibromyalgia, cancer, or any other aliment that causes chronic pain, keeping a daily pain diary is very important not only for yourself, but for your physician. If you suffer from chronic pain, it is difficult to remember day by day where your pain was, how severe was the pain, and what you were doing at that time. If you keep track of chronic pain in a pain diary, there is no guessing when your physician asks you when, where, and how severe was your pain on each day. Keeping a pain diary can give you and your physician much needed insight to determine what is causing your pain and for your physician to make an accurate diagnosis. You may find out after keeping a pain diary that your pain is caused by stress or anxiety, a specific activity you are doing, a certain food you have been eating, or a particular medication your are taking. Keeping a pain diary is not only important for you to figure out what triggers your pain, but for your physician to know how to treat your pain.

How do I keep a pain diary?

There are many ways to keep a pain diary. You can simply write down your information in a journal or you can print a pain diary with categories for your to fill in. MyOnlineWellness has a free printable pain diary weekly sheet that you can print to keep track of your pain. Another great site you can use is ReliefInstitute.com, which is an free online pain diary where you can record your pain daily on a body map and tracking 3 pain levels, describe your pain, symptoms you have, what you were doing, and medications you tried or are taking. The best part of using the ReliefInstitute.com online is that you can share this information with a sharing partner or your physician by adding their email and they will receive updates on your pain diary. You can set up reminders that can be sent to your email to remind you to record your pain daily. This is a very easy way to keep a pain diary for you and your doctor.

*The information contained in this article is not intended nor implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice nor is it intended to be for medical diagnosis or treatments. Always consult your physician before taking any medical advice or if you are concerned about your physical well being.

http://www.myonlinewellness.com/Imagebank/Health_Diaries/DailyPainDiary.pdf

http://www.reliefinsite.com/