When it comes to chronic pain, there is little evidence to support the use of a pain diary where one writes down their pain details such as intensity, duration, and medications taken. In fact keeping a meticulous pain diary can lead to hyper focusing on pain and the worsening of symptoms.
“Focusing on pain while completing a pain diary might have detrimental effects on pain intensity.” Gruszka et al 2019
So what if one tried a “Comfort Diary” instead? This study showed that surprisingly, there was no benefit to replacing diary ratings of pain intensity with diary ratings of comfort.
On the other hand, this 2019 study showed that 4 weeks of daily pain journaling was potentially of benefit if the right questions are answered. Individuals with non-cancer chronic pain who wrote down their responses to open-ended questions, saw significant decreases in pain intensity and increases in enjoyment of life scores.
Feel free to print and copy a journaling template that I have created for my patients.
You may also look at the instructions on how to complete this journal.
Both of these forms can be accessed at the bottom of the homepage of
Another journaling option is Focused Expressive Writing (F.E.W.), which focuses on writing about how ones emotions are potentially influencing ones pain experience.
Expressive writing is about HOW YOU FEEL about the things that have happened in your life and helps you look at past stresses and pain with a different mindset that would be more beneficial for your recovery. The recommended dosage for F.E.W. is 15 minutes, 3 times a week for just 3 weeks.
If you wish to learn about “F.E.W.”, please look at my step by step instructional video and handout.