Clients will often ask me whether they should keep a record or a diary of their injuries and their treatment and I always tell them ‘no don’t do that’.
People tend to be very good writing in the diary for the first few weeks or the first couple of months but over time they get tired of writing the same thing day in day out.
The reason I tell them not to keep a diary is because they often end up creating a record that is inaccurate. This is because people simply get tired of writing in the diary; they get tired of writing each and every day that their neck is sore or their back is sore, or that they are depressed or that they are having problems managing their day-to-day functioning.
Over the years, I’ve found that clients write in their diary less and less and unfortunately what that becomes is a record that seems to show that they’re recovering from their injuries because there’s less and less in the diary. However, the lack of entries is actually because the client is tired of writing about how bad they feel.
Over the years it has been my experience that people don’t keep up with pain diaries and it’s just not a good idea to have a diary. I tell my clients from the outset NOT to keep a pain diary.
My view is that the best way to keep track of your injuries and the impact they’re having on your life on an ongoing basis, is to make sure that you educate your treatment providers.
I did another video on educating your treatment providers, so be sure to check that out. In that video I discuss how to be as detailed as possible with your treatment providers in the hope that they will keep a fairly good record of what you’re telling them in terms of how you’re doing with your day-to-day function and how your injuries are having an impact on your day-to-day function over time.