Introduction
A pain diary is used for regular documentation of pain and related information. For example, it is intended to record at what time pain occurs and how severe it is. The taking of pain-relieving medication as well as general well-being, sleep and bowel movements are also recorded. The pain diary should be presented at every doctor’s appointment, as this enables the doctor and patient to assess the course and success of the respective pain therapy.
Content of a pain diary
In a pain diary everything is documented that is connected with the pain or the pain therapy. There are numerous templates in which the individual information can be entered. Every day, for morning, noon, evening and night, it should be recorded whether pain has occurred.
If this is the case, it should be assessed how strong it was and to what extent the day’s activity was affected. The intensity of the pain is usually assessed on a pain scale from 0 to 10. Pain is free of pain if there is 0, and pain intensity 10 stands for the strongest pain imaginable.
Also the general well-being, bowel movement and sleep should be noted in the pain diary. Under the item “Other” everything can be recorded which is possibly also relevant, for example the occurrence of menstruation or increased stress. Another important point is the documentation of the intake of pain-relieving medication.
Important here are the time and the amount of the medication taken. A pain diary should not be a control instrument that observes whether the medication is taken reliably. It represents a chance and not a must for the pain patient, as it enables the doctor and patient to observe and assess the pain as accurately as possible. If a pain therapy is terminated, keeping a pain diary can still be useful to observe the course of the pain and to be able to intervene early if necessary.
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