APPENDICES PA I N J O U R N A L Welcome to your very own Pain Journal, a helpful tool that might just transform your life (or at least your back). This journal lets you keep track of: Start date and time The level of pain (on a scale from 1 to 10) The exact spot Past activities that seem to have shaped him Positions that provide comfort Medications used As time goes by, you ll start to notice patterns and connections that you might have missed without keeping a journal. Perhaps you ll discover that the pain tends to get worse after driving for over an hour, or that it improves a lot after doing a certain set of exercises. I suggest you fill it out for at least two weeks in a row when you begin, and then whenever you see some big changes. Take it along when you meet with a professional I bet they ll be really impressed with how organized you are (and it ll give them much better info to help you). Awareness is the first step to managing pain effectively. So, grab a pen and start getting to know your back a little better. Sometimes, to befriend your body, you need to learn to listen to it closely. 191