name / date: ________________body pain chart
shade the areas that hurt using the key below. use a different mark for each kind of pain rather than one blanket scribble.
front
back
shading key
pain log
| date | where it hurts | type | severity 0-10 | what helped |
|---|---|---|---|---|
free worksheet from rox · talktorox.com · not medical advice
the free pain tracker does the same job in your browser and works out the patterns for you. rox is the free ios app behind it: it remembers every entry, reads your apple watch, oura, garmin or amazfit, and builds a summary a doctor can read in a minute.
how to use it
Pain is difficult to describe and easy to draw. A body chart, sometimes called a pain map or pain diagram, is used in pain clinics for exactly that reason: it shows distribution and pattern in a second, where a verbal description takes several minutes and still leaves gaps.
The pattern matters as much as the location. Pain that follows one limb suggests something different from pain spread symmetrically across the body, and widespread pain on both sides above and below the waist is one of the things clinicians look at when assessing fibromyalgia. None of that is visible from a severity number alone.
Use different marks for different sensations. Aching, burning, stabbing and numbness point to different mechanisms, so a chart that separates them carries far more information than one shaded blob.
01
what is a body pain chart?
a body pain chart, also called a body map or pain diagram, is a printable outline of the human body, front and back, that you shade in to show where you hurt. it is a standard tool in pain clinics because location and distribution are much clearer drawn than described.
02
how do i fill in a body pain chart?
shade the areas that hurt and use a different mark for each sensation: hatching for aching, crosses for sharp or stabbing pain, circles for numbness and tingling. date the sheet, and fill in a new one every few weeks rather than editing the same one.
03
what does it mean if pain is on both sides of my body?
widespread pain on both sides, above and below the waist, lasting three months or more is one of the criteria clinicians use when considering fibromyalgia. it is a prompt for a conversation with a doctor, not a diagnosis you can give yourself.
04
should i take a pain chart to my appointment?
yes. bring a few dated sheets rather than one. a single chart shows today, and a sequence shows whether the pattern is spreading, shifting or settling, which is what actually changes a treatment decision.
free to use, print and share. rox is a tracking tool, not medical advice, and it cannot diagnose or treat anything.