“Julie” mentioned that her doctor advised her to keep a pain journal, and she wanted some direction. She loves to write, but she wasn’t sure how to approach the task. Also, she was concerned that dwelling on her pain might make it worse. Wasn’t the goal to distract herself from the pain rather than to think (and write) about it?
Here’s my advice for Julie:
- First, yes, I do think it’s a good idea to keep a pain journal. That will let you observe patterns of what seems to make pain worse/better so you can modify your activities accordingly.
- Journaling also allows you to observe changes over time. This is a way to document your pain history as it occurs.
History taking is the most useful diagnostic tool in medicine. It is better than a physical exam and, in most cases, it is superior to any lab or image testing. You are the best provider of your history.
- It would be ideal to record pain and activity throughout the day in your pain journal, but often, that is too burdensome. Record what you can.
- Writing in a pain journal can be cathartic. Treat your pain journal as if it were a confidante. Share your feelings with the character.
- You can write about the pain, and acknowledge the negative, but don’t dwell on that alone. Look for what is positive, and write about that, too.
Be honest with the “character” and with yourself. In that way, your pain journal can be useful in helping you to find resilience.
And it may just give your doctor answers he or she can’t get in any other way.
Kimberly says
February 13, 2016 at 1:41 amThis whole controversy makes me sick! There has to be away to weed out drug seekers from Chronic pain suffers, they just don’t seem to care, its only the difference between having a life or not. They took my life away from me, I am of no use to anyone and I’m only 56. I was a Photographer and fine artist before my accident. Stuck with inoperable spine problems, that only get worse, I’ll never be better. I tried every thing out there, Everything pain management ask of me, many out of pocket technics. I’m not a good candidate for any of them. I would love to give each and every anti-medication advocate my pain for ONE day, it would put them to their knees!
David says
March 12, 2016 at 6:29 pmCan’t agree more. I’m so tired of the pain, and I drive big rig in the mountian bush country. I can’t do pain killers. Already fight sleep. Some times I just wish I never woke up again. At the end of the day just crawling out of my semi truck nearly brings me to tears. Just damn tired of the non stop pain. Just tried hemp oil, and made me so ill. I can get anything I want for pain, just sick of med and how my body reacts to them.
Kenneth R. McClelland says
April 2, 2019 at 7:49 pmAfter reading this article, I wanted to write to you and tell you a little about My Pain Journals.
Pain tracking journals truly can offer a treasure trove of information for the caregiver, as well as for the patient. With My Pain Journals, you can skim back through the pages to spot changing trends in pain levels which could indicate whether a particular food or food group is having any adverse effect on pain levels, if certain physical activities are helping or harming the person, or whether a pain medication is working as it should – and more.
While not all of my journals are created identical, typically they will show the individual’s contact information, contact information for their physicians, their medical appointments, prescription names and dosages, medicines taken on any particular day, foods eaten that day, daily weight, stress levels, stress triggers, sleep hours, pain levels, location of the pain, and there’s an area at the bottom of each page for brief notes, with a place to note if there are additional notes for that days thoughts being carried over to a specific page near the back of the journal. I also left room at the end for listing helpful web sites, and email addresses of new friends or clinics suggested to them by others.
Here is a list of my pain tracking journals: My Fibromyalgia; My Lupus; My Chronic Pain; My Arthritis; My Migraine; My IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome); My Diabetes; My Accident/Injury legal; My Accident/Injury personal; and another for various ailments, titled: My Illness Journal.
These are available in 3 month (90 day) versions, and also as a one year version with the same format, but over 400 pages long, all of which, along with my other books, are available under the search term Kenneth R. McClelland, through amazon.com. I hope that you like them, and I hope that they will be a big help to hurting people and their care givers.
Sincerely,
Kenneth R. McClelland