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Pain Management Diaries: Get Answers To Questions You May Have If You Are Asked To Keep One
Nanja Bongers
If you have been experiencing a lot of pain due to an injury or medical condition, your doctor or healthcare provider may recommend you take part in a pain management course. This type of course helps to determine why you are experiencing pain and ways to cope with the pain without the use of medication. One of the first things that may be asked of you when you are taking part in one of these courses is to keep a pain management journal. If you have never done one of these before, you may have many questions about it. Here are a few of the questions you may have about a pain management journal.
What Information Should I Keep in a Pain Management Journal?
The individual in charge of the pain management course will tell you what information to keep in your journal. The information you are to keep may vary based on where you are experiencing the pain and the severity of the pain. However, some of the information you may be asked to write includes how long and how well you slept, what time you ate and what you ate, how many glasses of water or liquid you consumed, what time your pain started or increased, how much exercise you got and what types of exercise you were doing, your stress level that day and any other day to day activities that could impact your pain level, such as activities you did during the day including work and household chores.
How Can a Journal Help a Person in Pain?
Often times, pain follows a pattern. For example, many migraine sufferers find that keeping a journal helps them to figure out what foods are triggering their migraines. Those with back pain may discover that sitting in a car for longer than an hour triggers severe pain. And those with fibromyalgia may discover that sleeping less than six hours causes their body to feel achy, but sleeping more than nine hours also makes them feel bad. A journal helps to pin-point activities that cause pain that are often overlooked. A person can then avoid those activities or change up their routine, such as taking a break after driving for 45 minutes, to prevent severe pain.
Are There Any Other Benefits to Keeping a Pain Management Diary?
Keeping a pain management diary can also be beneficial to your doctor. A lot of pain management involves trial and error. Physical therapy may work for some, while it may be too grueling for others. Massage therapy or acupuncture may relieve the pain in certain individuals, while it is less effective in other groups. When you write down what items trigger your pain or make it worse, it helps your doctor to zero in on a treatment plan that may be beneficial to you and actually helps you.
When you are first asked to keep a pain management diary, you may be hesitant. It can be time consuming and you are providing details about your day to day life. But the information both you and your doctor can learn from the journal can help to improve the level of pain you are experiencing and help you to live either a pain-free life or a life as pain-free as possible. Check out this post to learn more about pain management.
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