Pain Diary

Overview

A pain diary may help you and your doctor find out what makes your pain better or worse. Use the diary and pain scale below to keep track of when you have pain, how bad it is, and what you are doing to treat it.

Pain scale shown by facial expressions — *This figure has been reproduced with permission from the International Association for the Study of Pain® (IASP®). The figure may not be reproduced for any other purpose without permission.*

These faces show how much something can hurt. You can use these faces to help choose a number that shows how much you or your child hurts right now. The face on the left shows no pain. The other faces in turn show more and more pain. The face on the right shows the worst pain you have ever known. For example, if you have a "2" on the scale, your pain may be minor with sharp pain now and then, but it doesn't impact your ability to do things. If you have an "8" on the scale, you may have very strong pain that makes it hard to do anything.

Daily pain diary
Date:
Time:
Pain scale rating:
Medicine and dose:
Medicine side effects:
What made the pain better today?
What made the pain worse today?

Daily pain diary
Date:
Time:
Pain scale rating:
Medicine and dose:
Medicine side effects:
What made the pain better today?
What made the pain worse today?

Daily pain diary
Date:
Time:
Pain scale rating:
Medicine and dose:
Medicine side effects:
What made the pain better today?
What made the pain worse today?

Daily pain diary
Date:
Time:
Pain scale rating:
Medicine and dose:
Medicine side effects:
What made the pain better today?
What made the pain worse today?

Credits

Current as of: November 9, 2022

Author: Healthwise Staff
Medical Review:
Anne C. Poinier MD - Internal Medicine
Adam Husney MD - Family Medicine
Martin J. Gabica MD - Family Medicine
Nancy Greenwald MD - Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation