Home General Info & Awareness Monitoring Health & Pain

Monitoring Health & Pain

by InvisiblyMe

Many people record some aspect(s) of their health in some way. It can have a variety of benefits, so let’s take a little look at how monitoring your health and pain can give you a little control back.

Types Of Health Monitoring

There are lots of things you may want to keep a diary of in some form: Blood pressure, activity levels, sleep, stress levels, mental wellbeing, blood sugar, blood test results, weight, migraines, other symptoms, and pain. 

You can keep track of such things with printable charts, diary entries, smart devices, voice memos, apps, or spreadsheets. It’s a case of deciding what’s important to you to monitor, how best to record it, and what works for you personally. 

The Benefits Of Monitoring Health

Keeping a record of different aspects of your health can be useful for a few reasons : 

  • It can give you a broad overview of what’s going on, helping you break things down into specific issues and making it all a little less overwhelming. 
  • It can be a crucial part of identifying ways to better manage, treat or investigate your health and any illness you’re contending with by highlighting patterns and relationships between different factors, areas that are most troublesome, or potential triggers for symptoms. 
  • It can help with motivation
  • It can also be a tool to use when discussing your health with doctors and specialists, while being useful to refer back to in future.

There’s An App For That  –  Branch Health (formerly Ouchie)

If you’ve got a smartphone and like the idea of keeping track of your pain levels, treatment, and self-care goals, then you might want to check out Ouchie.

The idea of the Ouchie app is to help you track your pain and other measurable details, from medication and goals, to mood and sleep. From there, you can connect with peers, others patients and access resources. There’s also the chance to earn rewards for achieving targets, helping to encourage and motivate you in moving forward. While tracking your health/pain, goals and progress, it gives you the chance to learn, so you can check out new developments, products and research. I’ve not been financially sponsored to write this post, it’s just an app I’d come across and would like to share.

The blue/green Ouchie logo, the app for monitoring health and pain. It's the word Ouchie underneath an outline of a face (a circle for the head and two > < eyes).

The app acts as a bridge in connecting you to a larger community so you can reach out to others – if and when you want, without any pressure – and to get support. If not, that’s totally fine, there’s no pressure to share your journey or anything you input into the app if you don’t want to. I like that there’s a choice. You don’t have to dive right in, you can just use it for tracking your details and if you decide you want to connect with others or share your goals, then great. It’s about going at your own pace, making use of whatever tools work for you. 

What I like so much about this is the warm community vibe. It’s a place to nurture your own soul as you seek support, to know you’re not alone and to be among others who ‘get it’. It’s also a great way to be accountable and to get yourself into a routine of checking in with yourself each day – how’s your sleep, your mood and your pain? What goals do you have, what small things can you do for yourself today? Sometimes we have the best of intentions to take back a little control over our health and our lives, and to work on these self-care goals, yet struggle to put it into practice. This is where using I think the Ouchie app can be very useful. 

Tips For Monitoring Health / Pain

  • Try to be consistent and set yourself a realistic target of how much you want to record and how often.
  • Find a method that works for you. Some may find a spreadsheet on their computer handy to use or an app that can be used on your phone/tablet wherever you are, while others may prefer the good ol’ pen and paper.
  • Consider what you want to get out of monitoring your health as this will give you motivation to do it and a better idea of what to record. 
  • Ask yourself whether this is something you wish to do privately, or something you’d like to do as part of a community to get and give support alongside others. 
  • It can be a case of trial and error getting into a routine of monitoring and how best to do it. Try to stick with it and learn as you go along, keeping hold of any records for future reference.

[ Update : Ouchie has become “Branch Health” and you can find the Branch app for iPhone here ]

A black scroll divider.

Do you keep records or monitor any aspects of your health, well-being or pain? Do you find it helpful?

Caz  ♥

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46 comments

The Lonely Author May 26, 2019 - 3:16 pm

Goos post as always.
I have a calender where i always document my hours of sleep,. blood pressure, and other info that a doctor may ask.
This app appears to be a great tool. Thanks for sharing.
Enjoy the rest of your Sunday.

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InvisiblyMe May 29, 2019 - 3:44 pm

Sounds like you’re already on top of things with your calendar! Thanks for reading & the great comment – I hope the week is treating you kindly so far 🙂

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Ashley May 26, 2019 - 4:30 pm

When I first started monitoring various things to do with my health, I used a couple of different apps. When I started bullet journalling, I started keeping track of everything in my paper journal. I think probably the method matters less than actually doing it in whatever way is easiest.

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Toni May 26, 2019 - 6:28 pm

Great post Caz. I started a little journal before I started blogging, and blogging is a good record keeper also. Some times the pain days just merge into one so I mainly concentrate on relapses and what was going on at the time – If there was a specific trigger etc which I have found really helps. Nice to hear there are apps out there to help.

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InvisiblyMe May 29, 2019 - 3:50 pm

I’m glad you’ve found keeping a diary, and blogging, to be handy for recording what’s going on with your health and pain. Keeping track of relapses and wider events, as you say to see if there are triggers or relationships between certain things, is a really useful idea. Thanks for sharing, Toni  ♥

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InvisiblyMe May 29, 2019 - 3:47 pm

I agree, it doesn’t matter the method it just needs to work for you, and everyone is different with what they find easiest and in terms of what they want to get out of doing it. Thanks for the comment, Ashley 🙂
xx

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smilecalm May 26, 2019 - 4:49 pm

thank you for making life
feel less painful!
an app for pain
to go along with
the one for happiness 🙂

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InvisiblyMe May 29, 2019 - 3:50 pm

Aw thank you  ♥
Hope you’re having a good week so far! x

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violaetcetera May 26, 2019 - 6:11 pm

I think it is very important to monitor pain, because it gives you a kind of control. Didn’t know about the apps, will try that.
Thanks for informing us, Caz!

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InvisiblyMe May 29, 2019 - 3:51 pm

I feel the same, with that sense of control, and it’s important when our health can otherwise leave us feeling powerless. Thanks for the comment lovely  ♥

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Carolyn Page May 26, 2019 - 9:16 pm

Illness can make us feel very subjective; and understandably so, Caz. You are suggesting, within your advice, a touch of ‘objectivity’, which I know from my own experiences can make life so much more comfortable. Add to this the greater benefit of self knowledge comes even more command over what can become a downward spiral; should we allow.
You are always ‘on the money’, Caz. 🙂
xoxoxo

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InvisiblyMe May 29, 2019 - 3:52 pm

I hadn’t really thought of it like that, but you’re right, it’s a more objective edge. And that bit of control can make us feel better, while the self-knowledge can be empowering. Thank you so much for the fab comment, Carolyn, I really appreciate it!  ♥
xx

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Despite Pain May 26, 2019 - 9:29 pm

I always suggest that people should keep pain diaries. They can be really helpful for finding patterns and triggers. I am in the middle of writing a post about it. Great minds think alike, Caz ????

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InvisiblyMe May 29, 2019 - 3:42 pm

Great minds, indeed ???? Looking forward to reading your post on pain diaries! xx

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Michelle May 27, 2019 - 1:03 am

This sounds like a great app to monitor your pain with. I really like that community support is an option because you don’t often see that with apps. Great review on this app!

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InvisiblyMe May 29, 2019 - 3:41 pm

You’re right, you don’t often get the community aspect to apps so it’s great if support or just the chance to share and not feel alone is what you need  ♥
xx

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Alice May 27, 2019 - 6:43 am

Ooh I shall look up this app. Thank you for sharing. I’ve not monitored my pain for a few years now but I might do it again and see how it’s changed. I swear it’s getting worse. Great post!

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InvisiblyMe May 29, 2019 - 3:39 pm

I’m sorry your pain seems to be getting worse. Any ideas why..? It can be hard to gauge change sometimes, which is where some kind of recording/monitoring can be helpful, especially in identifying triggers or ways to make any possible improvements to managing it. Glad you liked the post, & thanks for the great comment  ♥

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Sophiemagsblog May 27, 2019 - 10:49 am

It’s scary because some people become quite obsessed with monitoring their health and it can cause health anxiety, but its just about making sure you monitor the right amount and understand that most of our aches and pains are completely natural and part of growing! this was a fab post, I love the idea of keeping a diary so you can monitor it alot easier!

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InvisiblyMe May 29, 2019 - 3:27 pm

You’re right, it can become too much, too obsessive and cause more anxiety. It’s getting a good balance, and figuring what actually helps, rather than hinders, you individually. Really pleased you liked the post, thanks for the great comment! xx

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Mama Duck May 27, 2019 - 12:42 pm

This was another informative and interesting post. Who knew there was an app for pain/sleep/etc. recording?!

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InvisiblyMe May 29, 2019 - 3:25 pm

I think there are increasing apps for just about everything now, but it’s only usually through word of mouth we ever learn about them, which is why I thought I’d mention it. Glad you found the post interesting, thank you! 🙂
xx

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Melinda May 27, 2019 - 9:38 pm

Thanks for sharing the great info. 🙂

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InvisiblyMe May 29, 2019 - 3:12 pm

You’re welcome, thanks Melinda – hope you liked it =]

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Rachel, The Invisible Hypothyroidism May 28, 2019 - 12:49 pm

I always find it useful to log symptoms against test results.

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InvisiblyMe May 29, 2019 - 2:59 pm

I print off test results and keep them in a folder, but cross-referencing them with symptoms at the time is a really good idea! Thanks for sharing that =]

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Megala May 28, 2019 - 1:36 pm

Informative post! Thanks for sharing a wonderful article.

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InvisiblyMe May 29, 2019 - 2:55 pm

You’re welcome, thank you for reading & commenting! =]
xx

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Cecilia Kennedy May 28, 2019 - 9:11 pm

Great post! I like the idea of the Ouchie app–I’ll have to check it out.

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InvisiblyMe May 29, 2019 - 2:52 pm

Glad you liked the post, and enjoy Ouchie if you do check it out 🙂
xx

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Sean May 28, 2019 - 10:53 pm

Seems useful, glad there are tools like this being developed.

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InvisiblyMe May 29, 2019 - 2:47 pm

Technology certainly is changing so many aspects of life at a crazy fast pace!

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Kymber Hawke May 29, 2019 - 4:29 pm

This is an awesome post, Caz! xo I didn’t know about the app but I think it will be useful! 🙂

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InvisiblyMe May 31, 2019 - 4:30 pm

I had only recently come across it too. Glad you liked the post, thanks Kymber! xx

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Jeanne Foguth May 31, 2019 - 11:21 pm

I don’t know if this is exactly related to ‘heath and pain’ or not, but for certain, it concerns overall health. I recently learned that ‘gut health’ or rather illness is a contributing factor to many illnesses. In case you’re interested in this, Apparently antibiotics are a contributing factor – not the only one, but the one I identified with.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pKFYBHwVQQ&t=111s was very interesting, at least to me.

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InvisiblyMe June 3, 2019 - 2:25 pm

You’re right, gut health is thought to play a really big part in overall health and wellness. I take probiotics and I do think those, and being mindful of antibiotic use in general (upping pro&prebioitics after a course of them), are important. Thanks for sharing the link and the great comment! xx

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Eliza June 2, 2019 - 7:14 pm

It sounds like an interesting app…. When I get my new phone maybe I’ll check it out.
I’ve thought of monitoring before. There are things that I did monitor (and when I have my new phone will do so again), like food, period, adding things I did. Other things like mood I never did for I never found an app that did what I wanted it to.
Also I’m very on/off. Either I monitor everything, or nothing, depends what craze I’m going through at the moment. It’s definitely helpful to be able to look back if you monitor everything and see if there’s a correlation between time of month, sleep, food etc.
Why’m I rambling?
Love, light and glitter Caz.

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InvisiblyMe June 3, 2019 - 2:27 pm

Cool, hope you get your new phone soon! I’m quite all or nothing with a lot of things, too. You just have to do what suits you at the time. And you’re not rambling, I really appreciate the comment – thanks Eliza!  ♥

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Lindsay June 2, 2019 - 10:56 pm

This post is especially timely for me! I recently downloaded a food diary app. I can enter in what i eat for the day as well as add notes with symptoms and track supplements. I’m trying to discover if there are foods that are causing symptoms, and a food journal seemed like the easiest method. It also shows me a report of the amount of vitamins/minerals that I ate that day/week, so I can see if I’m not getting enough of a particular vitamin or mineral.

Great post!

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InvisiblyMe June 3, 2019 - 2:28 pm

That’s a good idea with the food diary and adding notes of symptoms, hopefully it can help show if there are any possible links between certain things. Very interesting that it gives a report of the average vitamins & minerals you’ve had for the week, that’s amazing! Thanks for sharing, Lindsay 🙂
xx

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Stacey Chapman June 3, 2019 - 1:42 pm

I keep track of my issues and then what medications I take and when. It’s helpful, especially when it comes to chronic headaches and migraines. I’ve often had my Neurologist flip through it to gain insurance approval for new, expensive drugs. Thanks for the app suggestion!! ~Stace~

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InvisiblyMe June 3, 2019 - 2:14 pm

It’s great you find tracking issues & medications helpful, and it sounds like it’s been really useful for your neurologist & insurance-related issues. Thanks for the comment, Stace! xx

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da-AL June 8, 2019 - 10:39 pm

It’s always great when patients take charge!

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InvisiblyMe June 11, 2019 - 3:02 pm

Absolutely, empowering ourselves is key! Thanks for the comment 🙂

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Jenny June 14, 2019 - 10:41 am

Great post Caz! I use a therapy app to remind me when to take my meds and also use my phone to track any symptoms that I have. I also find that blogging helps me to keep an eye on any progress I am/am not making! I guess recording it all helps to keep my health at the forefront of my mind and it makes it easier to then chat to doctors 🙂 xxx

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InvisiblyMe June 14, 2019 - 3:18 pm

It’s great that tech has been so useful for you with keeping track of things and helping with reminders, too. And of course, it can be a great aid for doctor appointments. Thanks for the comment, Jen! I hope you’re managing as well as possible this week  ♥
xx

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