Updated 3 October 2026
At a glance
- In 2023, 24.3% of US adults had chronic pain, and MedlinePlus notes that some people have two or more chronic pain conditions (CDC, MedlinePlus).
- In a study of 655 adults, 51% of people with headache and 90% of people with fibromyalgia had at least one overlapping chronic pain condition (PubMed).
- A pain journal can record where the pain is, what it feels like, when it comes and what makes it better or worse (Kaiser Permanente).
- Chronic Pain Journey keeps pain scores, flares, tests, medicine names and visit notes in one dated history that every clinician can read.
A person can have fibromyalgia, migraine, back pain and a bowel condition at once, with a different clinician for each. Each clinician hears about one part of the body. The pain itself arrives as one experience, and it is hard to say where one diagnosis ends.
This guide shows what to record so the sources can be sorted later: body sites and quality words, scores and function, flares, tests, medicine names and a page for each visit.
Fibromyalgia, headache, back pain and bowel pain: how often diagnoses overlap
The CDC reports that 24.3% of US adults had chronic pain in 2023, and that 8.5% had high-impact chronic pain that frequently limited life or work activities in the past 3 months (CDC). MedlinePlus lists headaches or migraines, fibromyalgia, arthritis, nerve damage and back problems among the conditions linked with chronic pain, and adds that some people have two or more chronic pain conditions (MedlinePlus).
One study measured the overlap. It followed 655 adults and looked at temporomandibular disorders, headache, back pain, irritable bowel syndrome and fibromyalgia. Overlap was common: 51% of people with headache had at least one other of these conditions, and 90% of people with fibromyalgia did (PubMed).
Several diagnoses therefore produce one stream of pain that is divided into labels afterward. The record should keep the stream whole and add the labels later. Write every pain on one list, with a body site and the date, and leave the diagnosis name for a separate column. From Chronic Pain Journey (by Health Journey Labs), we recommend entering the site first, since the site is what the person can observe and the diagnosis is what a clinician decides. The guide on how to start tracking chronic pain without building ten systems lists the first fields to set up.
The Daily check-in records physical symptoms, emotional state, nutrition, sleep, exercise and external factors, with pain intensity, fog and activity or pacing, and the answers stay on one dated line. Chronic Pain Journey holds that line for every day, so the site and the date are available whichever clinician asks.
Site, quality and time of day: the entry details that separate pain sources
Kaiser Permanente lists questions that a pain journal can answer: where the pain is located, whether it is throbbing, sharp, tingling, shooting or burning, whether it is constant or comes and goes, whether it changes at different times of day, whether it gets worse before or after meals, and whether activity makes it better or worse (Kaiser Permanente). The same page asks whether pain keeps a person from falling asleep or wakes them at night.
For a person with several diagnoses, these questions work best as a fixed set of columns.
Table of pain site and pattern, by Chronic Pain Journey
| Item | What to write |
|---|---|
| Site | The exact place, such as left jaw, low back, hands or abdomen. |
| Quality | One of the listed words, repeated exactly each time. |
| Pattern | Constant, or coming and going, with the hours. |
| Link to meals | Whether the pain changed before or after eating. |
| Link to activity | What the person did before it changed. |
| Night | Whether it delayed sleep or woke the person. |
A repeated quality word is a clue. A burning pain in the feet and a throbbing pain behind the eye are two entries, and the clinician for each can see them without reading the other. A change of word is also a fact, so write it down on the day it appears.
Add the site and the quality word to the Daily Journal, which takes free-text notes and voice entry, and put the intensity in the Flare Tracker when a day is clearly worse than a usual week. Together they let Chronic Pain Journey keep one entry per site per day, so a pattern in one place is not buried by pain somewhere else.
Zero-to-ten scores and daily function: what an assessment asks about
Kaiser Permanente describes the usual pain scale as running from 0, no pain, to 10, the worst pain a person has known (Kaiser Permanente). One number cannot carry five diagnoses. A score of 6 from the back and a score of 6 from the head are different days.
The NICE guideline on chronic pain tells clinicians to ask how pain affects a person's life and how life affects the pain. The topics it lists include day-to-day activities, work and sleep disturbance, physical and psychological wellbeing, social interaction and relationships, and difficulties with employment, housing or income (NICE). A guideline from one country is a dated reference for what an assessment can cover. It sets no rule for any other health system.
A daily line can echo those topics.
List of scores and daily function, by Chronic Pain Journey
- The score for each site that hurt, from 0 to 10.
- What the day allowed: work hours, errands, meals prepared, time with other people.
- What it cost: the next day's activity level.
- Sleep: hours and how the night went.
Function is a fact that does not depend on a scale, so write it in plain words.
The Daily check-in carries pain intensity, fog, activity or pacing and how the day went, with sleep and exercise on the same form. Where a clinic asks mainly for a 0 to 10 number, a line in the Daily Journal can state function in plain words, and Chronic Pain Journey keeps function together with the score for every date.
Flare-ups when several conditions fluctuate: onset, site and a short note
The NICE guideline tells clinicians to discuss with the person the likelihood that symptoms will fluctuate over time, that flare-ups may occur, and that a reason for a flare-up may not be identified (NICE). With several conditions, a flare can start in one place and spread to others, or two flares can start on the same day. The record should show which one came first.
A flare entry needs 4 facts.
Steps to log flare onset, by Chronic Pain Journey
- The date and the hour of onset, or the part of the day.
- The site where it started and the sites it reached later.
- The intensity at its worst, from 0 to 10.
- A short note on what came before: a long day, a poor night, a change in weather or a stressful event.
MedlinePlus states that environmental factors and psychological factors such as mood and stress can make chronic pain worse (MedlinePlus), so the note may include an event or a mood. When the flare is over, write the date it ended. The guide on how to get through a flare day without losing notes shows how to keep the entry short while it is happening.
The Flare Tracker flags a day clearly worse than a usual week and stores onset, intensity and a short note. Its history across weeks separates a one-off rise from a repeating pattern, and the calendar view in Chronic Pain Journey colors each day by intensity, so two clusters of flares at different sites are visible on the month.
Imaging, blood work and changing labels: a dated list for every specialist
Several clinicians order several tests, and the results rarely end up in one place. MedlinePlus states that when the cause of pain is unknown, a provider may ask about medical history, ask the person to describe the pain and how it affects life, do a physical exam, and order blood tests or other medical tests (MedlinePlus). The NICE guideline adds that an initial diagnosis of chronic primary pain may change with time, and that chronic primary pain can coexist with chronic secondary pain (NICE).
Labels can change, so dates matter more than names. Keep one list with these columns (Chronic Pain Journey checklist).
Checklist of dated scans and tests, by Chronic Pain Journey
- ☐ The date of each scan, blood test or other test.
- ☐ The clinician who ordered it and the site it concerned.
- ☐ The result in the words of the report.
- ☐ The diagnosis name in use on that date.
When a diagnosis is renamed or a new one is added, write the date and who said it. A specialist who joins late can then see the order of events without rebuilding it. A result is one data point. The weeks of pain and function around it give it meaning for the clinician who reads it.
Dates of imaging, blood work and other tests go into My Labs, which reads each entry together with function and pain. Chronic Pain Journey keeps those entries in the history of the same weeks, so a clinician sees a scan date, the site it covered and how the person was doing in the months around it.
As-needed medicines used for different conditions: names and times as dated facts
People with several conditions often have several prescribers. The NICE guideline says a care and support plan should explore a person's preferred approach to treatment and the balance of treatments for multiple conditions (NICE). A prescriber who sees only one condition cannot weigh that balance without the full list.
The record can supply the list without any advice. Write medicines as dated facts only.
As-needed medicine list, by Chronic Pain Journey
- The medicine name, as printed on the container.
- The date and the time of day each one was used, for as-needed medicines.
- The site or symptom it was used for, in the person's own words.
- What happened afterward in plain words, such as "pain went from 7 to 4 within the afternoon" or "no change".
Kaiser Permanente notes that a pain journal can also track side effects of pain medicine (Kaiser Permanente). Write each side effect with its date.
Choices about starting, stopping or changing a medicine belong to the prescriber. Use a question such as "Is it worth reviewing the as-needed list together?" to open that conversation.
Names, timing and medication entries go into My Meds, including the as-needed medicines a person actually uses, and the entries are read together with pain, sleep and fog. Chronic Pain Journey lets a prescriber see which days an extra medicine was used and how those days looked in the Daily check-in.
One page per clinician: pain sites, function and questions for each visit
The CDC states that chronic pain and high-impact chronic pain are among the most common reasons adults seek medical care (CDC). Visits are often short, and each clinician owns one part of the picture. A page for each visit keeps the conversation on that clinician's part while the full record stays intact.
Build each page from the same record.
Table with one page per clinician, by Chronic Pain Journey
| Item | What to write |
|---|---|
| For the headache clinician | Dates, hours and sites of head pain, the quality words used and what came before. |
| For the musculoskeletal clinician | Sites, daily function, activity limits and the flares since the last visit. |
| For the bowel or pelvic clinician | Pain after meals, dates of symptoms and the tests already done. |
| For all of them | The medicine list, the test dates and 3 questions. |
Put one open question at the top of each page, such as "Is it worth reviewing the flare dates and the sleep notes together?" After the visit, write what was said and the next step. The guide on how to prepare for a short chronic pain visit with pain notes adds more steps for a brief appointment.
The Doctor Report exports a one-page summary of dates, pain and flares, sleep, fog, medicines and function from the logged history. The My Care Team tool holds each clinician's name with notes on what to ask, what was said during the visit and what to review afterward, and Chronic Pain Journey produces a different page for each clinician from the same entries.
How Chronic Pain Journey can help
A paper notebook can hold these columns if every line uses the same fields. A phone record adds the calendar and the weekly and monthly views, and the best chronic pain apps 2026 guide describes how several options differ.
Chronic Pain Journey is a personal chronic pain tracker from Health Journey Labs on the App Store and Google Play. It lets you record a score and a site for each pain, a flare with its onset, tests, medicine names and visit notes on the day they happen, and read them as one record. With weeks of entries, each clinician can see which sites repeat, which flares came together and how function changed. Below is what you can use and how each part helps.
- Daily check-in — A guided daily pass through physical symptoms, emotional state, nutrition, sleep, exercise, medicines and outside factors, with pain intensity, fog, pacing and how the day went.
- Flare Tracker — Marks a day clearly worse than a usual week, with onset, intensity and a short note, to separate a one-off rise from a repeating pattern.
- Daily Journal — Free-text and voice notes for what you canceled, partner talks, visit debriefs and a meeting left unfinished, adding context to the scores.
- Weekly Goals — One small aim for the week and a record of whether it held, read with real check-ins.
- My Meds — Medicine names, timing and medication entries, including the as-needed medicines you actually use, read with pain, sleep and fog.
- AI companions — Clara for general chat and specialist companions for knowledge, fitness, nutrition and relationships, all able to see the logged history and help word a visit question.
- Doctor Report — A one-page summary of dates, pain and flares, sleep, fog, medicines and function, exported from the logged history.
- My Labs — Dates of imaging, blood work and other tests, read with function and pain.
- Learn — Short education topics and prompts on pacing, sleep, flares, visit preparation and fog, to read alongside your own logged weeks.
- My Assessments — Structured check-ins beyond the daily scores, plus the life and social context entered at onboarding.
- My Care Team — Clinician names and short visit notes, for planning what to ask and bring, taking notes during the visit and reviewing it afterward.
- Food Tracker — Meal and drink lines, read with pain, energy and sleep.
- Weight Tracker — Scale or body notes, read with energy, sleep and pain weeks.
- Period Tracker — Start and stop dates, flow and how heavy or light bleeding felt, read with pain or energy.
Each score, flare and test date adds to one history that all of your clinicians can read in the same order, whatever each of them was asked to treat. Custom symptoms let you add a label for a site or a quality word that the guided forms do not name.
We make Chronic Pain Journey at Health Journey Labs. This guide is educational and does not replace medical advice. Diagnosis, medication decisions, and urgent care decisions belong with your treating clinicians.
Sources
- CDC — Chronic Pain and High-impact Chronic Pain in U.S. Adults, 2023
- MedlinePlus — Chronic Pain
- PubMed — Overlap of Five Chronic Pain Conditions
- Kaiser Permanente — Learning About a Pain Diary
- NICE — Chronic Pain (Primary and Secondary) in Over 16s
FAQ
The answers below draw on the sources cited in this guide, and the app they mention is Chronic Pain Journey (by Health Journey Labs).
How do I track pain when I have several diagnoses?
Use the same few fields for every pain: body site, quality word, score from 0 to 10 and what the day allowed. Keep the diagnosis name in a separate column, since the site is what you can observe each day.
The Daily check-in in Chronic Pain Journey records pain intensity, fog, pacing and how the day went on one form, so a single entry each day covers every site without a new log for each condition.
How do I know which condition a pain belongs to?
You do not have to decide. Record the site, the quality word, the hour and what came before, and let the clinician judge the source. Repeated details across weeks help a clinician more than a guess does.
The Daily Journal in Chronic Pain Journey accepts free-text and voice notes, so you can describe a new pain in your own words the day it appears and add a diagnosis label later if one is given.
Should I keep a separate log for each condition?
One record is usually easier to keep and easier to read. Separate logs hide the days when two conditions flared together, and they double the work. Label each entry by site and let each clinician look at the part that concerns them.
Chronic Pain Journey keeps all entries in one shared dated history, and the Doctor Report turns that history into a one-page summary, so each clinician can receive a page without you keeping several logs.
What if each specialist asks for a different pain score?
Give each specialist the score for the site they treat, from the same 0 to 10 scale, and add a line on function. A score without function is hard to compare between sites, while a plain description of the day is not.
My Care Team in Chronic Pain Journey holds short visit notes, including the remark that a clinic asked only for a number, so you can bring function and sleep to the next visit as well.
How do I explain overlapping conditions in a short visit?
Open with one sentence naming the site you want to discuss, then give the dates, the score and what the pain stopped you from doing. Hold the other sites for a second question rather than listing everything at once.
Doctor Report in Chronic Pain Journey exports dates, pain and flares, sleep, fog, medicines and function onto one page, so a short visit begins from the facts and not from a recap of the month.
What should I record about function?
Write what the day allowed in plain words: hours worked, errands finished, meals prepared, time with other people and what had to be skipped. Function is a fact, and it shows an effect that a score can miss.
The Daily check-in in Chronic Pain Journey records how the day went together with pain intensity and activity or pacing, so function is stored on the same date as the score for every day you log.
How do I log a bad day that involves several body sites?
Flag the day, then list the sites in the order they became painful, with a score for each. The order matters because it may show which pain came first and what the others followed.
The Flare Tracker in Chronic Pain Journey stores onset, intensity and a short note for a day clearly worse than a usual week, so the first site and the hour are saved with the flare.
Should mood and stress be part of the record?
Yes, as plain facts. MedlinePlus states that mood and stress can make chronic pain worse, so a line about a hard event or a low mood gives the clinician context. Keep the line short and dated.
Emotional state is one of the fields in the Daily check-in of Chronic Pain Journey, and it is read together with pain and sleep, so a clinician can see whether hard days and pain days fall together.
What if my test results are normal but the pain continues?
Record the test dates and results, and continue to record the pain and what it limits. A normal result describes that test on that day. Your pain record describes the weeks, and a clinician can weigh the two.
My Labs in Chronic Pain Journey stores dates of imaging, blood work and other tests, read with function and pain, so a normal result stays in the history together with the weeks that preceded it.
How do I log as-needed medicines used for different conditions?
Write the name, the date, the time of day, the site it was used for and what you noticed afterward, in plain words. Changes to any medicine belong to the prescriber. Is it worth reviewing the list together at the visit?
My Meds in Chronic Pain Journey records names, timing and medication entries, including the as-needed medicines you actually use, and reads them with pain, sleep and fog for the same days of the week.
How can I keep appointment notes for several clinicians?
Write one short note per visit with the clinician's name, the date, what was said and the next step. Keep the notes in one place so you can show a new clinician what the others recommended.
My Care Team in Chronic Pain Journey holds clinician names and short visit notes, with space for what to ask, what to bring and what to review afterward, all under dates in your history.
Can an AI chat help me prepare a summary for a visit?
It can help phrase a summary, but it does not replace a clinician, and it only knows what you tell it. Give it dated facts, ask for short sentences and check any medical question with your care team.
The AI companions in Chronic Pain Journey, including Clara, already see your logged history, so they can help word visit questions from your own entries instead of from a description you retype.
How do I keep the record from becoming too much work?
Keep the daily entry to a few fields and write more only on flare days. A short entry every day gives a clinician more to read than a long entry once a week, and it is easier to sustain.
Weekly Goals in Chronic Pain Journey records one small aim and whether it held, which gives the week a single manageable target while the Daily check-in carries the rest of the record for you.
How can I show family how my conditions affect each other?
Show them the calendar for one month and describe two or three days in plain words: what hurt, what you could do and what you had to skip. Concrete days are easier to understand than a list of diagnoses.
The calendar view in Chronic Pain Journey colors each day by intensity, and Daily Journal notes can record partner talks, so you can show a month and the conversations that followed it to anyone at home.
Who should see my symptom notes, and what about privacy?
Pain scores, medicine doses and days you missed work are details that an employer, insurer or relative could misread. Protect the log with a screen lock, keep it off shared tablets, and decide line by line what goes into a disability or work form.
Chronic Pain Journey stores your health notes under its privacy policy, which explains how data is saved and handled, so read it before you start. Ask your own clinician for medical advice about anything your entries show.