KEEPING TRACK OF YOUR PROGRESS
A daily journal is a great way to keep track of your arthritis symptoms. Your journal provides important information to let you know how well your treatments are working. Also, recording your pain, mood, and level of function can help you figure out which activities are healthy and which are causing stress to your joints. When you are making good progress, your journal will be a source of satisfaction to remind you that your efforts have been successful. If there are signe of trouble, you will have information to help fine-tune your treatment plan. Include the following:
- Your pain levels: use a consistent scale so that you can review how your pain is improving or worsening with time.
- Your exercise: document your physical activities, including how long you went, and how hard the workout session was.
- Your daily activities: summarize the tasks you accomplished so that you will know which days you may have been overactive.
- Your diet: The foods you eat can influence how much inflammation you may have in your body. See if you can find trends in how specific meals or food items affect your symptoms and overall health.
- Your emotions: Record feelings you have from day to day. Seek help if you find that you are consistently having negative emotions such as anger, sadness, lonliness, or hopelessness.
Review your journal periodically and look for trends and patterns. You can also bring your journal to your doctors and therapists so they can help review your progress, adjust your treatments, and give you words of advice or encouragement.
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