Pain Tracker

Resources

The Pain Tracker blog.

Practical guides on keeping a pain, headache or migraine diary, and on bringing a clear record to your doctor.

Hands writing in a paper notebook on a wooden table beside a phone and a cup of tea, with the words: The pain diary you will keep

Guides · November 13, 2026

How to keep a pain diary you will actually keep

What to write down, what to skip, and how to turn it into one page for your doctor.

Read the guide
A large green 0 and a red 10 above a bar of eleven steps from green to red, with the words: What does your number mean?

Guides

The 0 to 10 pain scale: what the numbers mean and how to use them

What each range usually means, and how to make your number mean the same thing every time.

 A woman on a sofa with one hand at her temple, making a note on her phone, with the words: Headache diary

Guides

Headache diary: what to write down, with a simple template

What to write down for each headache, a template you can copy, and how to read it after a month.

 Coffee, red wine, chocolate, a sleep mask, a laptop and a bright lamp on a dark table, with the words: Find your triggers

Guides

Migraine triggers: how to find yours with a diary

How to record what came before an attack, and how to read the counts without fooling yourself.

 A line that runs flat, rises into a long hump and then a short sharp spike, with the words: Usual. Flare. Breakthrough.

Guides

Usual pain, flare-ups and breakthrough pain: how to record each

What each word means, and a simple way to keep all three in one diary.

 A man's hands holding two phones side by side, with the words: 4 pain trackers compared

Comparisons

Pain tracker apps compared: Guava, Bearable, PainScale and Pain Tracker

What each app is good at, where ours fits, and how to choose one you will keep using.

 A man with a hand on the back of his neck explaining something to a doctor, with the words: Find the words

Guides

How to describe pain to a doctor: words that help

The things a doctor needs to hear, with words for how pain feels, where it is and how it changes.

 An open paper notebook with a pen next to a phone on a wooden desk, with the words: App or paper?

Comparisons

Pain journal: app or pen and paper?

Paper is always there and asks nothing; an app does the counting. An honest comparison.

 A green tick above the word Track and a red cross above the word Skip

Guides

Symptom diary: what to track and what to skip

How to choose the few things worth tracking, and what you can leave out.

 A hand passing a single sheet of paper across a desk to a doctor, with the words: Your story on one page

Appointments

Seeing a new doctor: your pain history on one page

What to put on a one-page pain history, with a template to copy.

 A clipboard, a pen, two medicine boxes, a phone, keys and glasses on a white table, with the words: Appointment checklist

Appointments

What to bring to a pain appointment: a checklist

A checklist, and how to turn your diary into a few numbers the week before.

 A doctor at her desk reading a single sheet of paper, with the words: Do doctors read them?

Appointments

Do doctors read pain diaries? How to make one they will

What makes the difference is the form you bring it in. Five ways to make it usable in a minute.

 A father on a sofa with his daughter resting against his shoulder, a phone in his hand, with the words: Your child's headaches

Family

Keeping a headache diary for your child

What to write down, how to ask a child about pain, and how to bring it to the doctor.

 A heating pad, a cold pack, tablets, a tube of cream and a massage ball on dark cloth, with the words: I have tried everything

Appointments

"I have tried everything": keeping a list of what you tried for pain

What to put on the list, how to note whether something helped, and how to keep it up to date.

 A woman walking in a park in morning light, smiling at the watch on her wrist, with the words: Count the good days

Guides

Why your pain diary should count the good days too

Why pain-free days are worth a mark, and what they show after a month.