You might have found that dealing with chronic pain remotely is easier than heading to a doctor. If so, you might consider looking into an app that helps you track your chronic pain symptoms which you can later share with your provider. Here are five apps designed to help you track your pain.
Formerly known as “Ouchie,” Branch is designed to help you track your treatment for your chronic pain. It connects to your medical team so that they can see your progress, as well as which treatments are working and which aren’t. It also integrates tools that use cognitive behavioral therapy, one of the more successful routes for curbing pain for many chronic pain sufferers. Branch is free and can be downloaded for iOS and Android.
If you’ve been suffering from chronic pain for more than three months, then Pathways Pain Relief is designed specifically for you. It uses various techniques to address both the physical and mental manifestations of physical pain. It features a tracker for pain and well-being and features classes designed to help you understand chronic pain better. It also comes with meditations that are designed to treat your chronic pain. There is a monthly membership fee of $14.99, or a lifetime option of $89.99.
If you’re a fan of tracking and recording medical data, Bearable is going to be the app for you. It is designed for putting all of your health data in a single spot, while also allowing you to track your diet, your sleep, and other factors that affect your health. Your data can be exported to show your doctor, and it is encrypted while stored on your phone. Bearable is $4.49 per month or $27.99 for a year.
For a psychological approach to working on chronic pain, Curable is a great option. It uses a “virtual pain coach” they call Clara, who asks you questions to determine more about your pain and what factors might be causing it. You are given various options to explore, and exercises designed to help reduce your chronic pain. These can include meditations, or instructions as to how to create a pain plan to monitor and take care of your chronic pain more effectively. There is a free version, or the $4.99/month paid version.
Many people with chronic pain suffer from gastrointestinal pain caused by things like GERD or IBS. Tracking your food and medicine intake with mySymptoms is easy, and it also tracks your exercise, your environment, your stress and sleep levels, and other physical and mental aspects of your well-being. There is a lite version, but also a paid version at $3.99.
Many of these apps will provide you with information you can discuss with your healthcare provider. It’s good to get another set of eyes on your information to help you see patterns you might not be able to identify on your own. If it is too painful or difficult for you to visit a doctor in person, you can consider telehealth.
