Why keep a digital pain diary?
Anyone living with chronic or recurring pain knows the problem: in the consulting room it is hard to reconstruct the exact course of the past weeks or months from memory. When exactly was the pain at its worst? How often did it occur? Has the new treatment made any difference?
A digital pain diary solves precisely that. Instead of relying on memory, you record your pain as it happens - quickly and without fuss, on your iPhone or iPad.
Your pain, your scale
PainTrack does not prescribe what you should track. You create your own pain definitions - "headache", "back pain" or "knee pain", for example - each with a name, an optional description and its own colour.
For each pain definition you choose the input type that suits it:
- 0–10: the classic pain scale for intensities
- Yes/no: for symptoms that are either there or not
- Mild/moderate/severe: when a rough classification is enough
All three scales are available in the free version too.
An entry takes seconds
At its core, an entry is one tap on the intensity. If you want to record more, you can add:
- a free-text note ("mostly across the forehead, right after the bus ride")
- tags for the type of pain: stabbing, dull, burning, cramping, pulling, pressing, throbbing
- tags for the circumstances: anxious, stressed, cold, warm, active, rested, slept badly, alcohol
You can set the date and time freely, so filling something in later in the evening is fine. And in case you forget: PainTrack reminds you at times you choose, on the weekdays you choose. The smart reminder stays quiet on days when you have already logged an entry.
Spotting patterns
What sets PainTrack apart is that the app helps you not only record but also understand. The dashboard gives you:
- a trend chart across one or several pain types, switchable between 7 and 30 days - with Pro, across 90 days and the whole period as well
- weekly trends that put your current week against the previous one - two comparison cards, three with Pro
- an activity heatmap for the past three months, showing how consistently you have logged
- a streak counting your run of tracking days
Is the new treatment actually working? The weekly trend gives you a number instead of a gut feeling.
Reports for your doctor
With PainTrack Pro you turn your entries into a PDF report. You decide:
- which pain the report covers - a single one or all of them
- what it contains: just the entries, or the charts as well
- which period it spans: from one week up to a year, or everything
You share the finished PDF straight from the app - by email, AirDrop or message. That way you arrive prepared at your next appointment, and your doctor gets a clear picture of what has been going on.
Your data stays with you
Health data is sensitive. That is why PainTrack stores every entry encrypted and exclusively on your own device. There is no backend, no user account and no cloud upload - we simply have no access to your data.
If you want, you can additionally lock the app with Face ID or Touch ID. And because your data lives locally, moving to a new device works through an export as a .strack file: export it, open it on the new device, done.
Getting started
PainTrack is available for free on the Apple App Store. Permanently free are one active pain definition, all three scales, entries with tags and notes, charts across 7 and 30 days, weekly trends, the heatmap and reminders.
For unlimited pain definitions, longer analysis periods, the PDF doctor's report and data transfer there is PainTrack Pro - as a subscription or a one-off purchase.
Start understanding your pain better today.