Documenting what is referred to as pain and suffering is of utmost importance in a personal injury case. Of course, pictures of your physical injuries can be worth a thousand words, but some pain and suffering can’t be seen by the naked eye. In this situation, a pain diary used to document your accident injuries could be very important. Later, for example, if you were asked how many headaches you suffered through, and your degree of pain, you would have physical evidence—your diary.
A Pain Diary is a Great Way to Document Your Accident Injuries in Case You Forget After the Fact
You won’t remember all that happened months from now when you need it, so just write it down now. My grandfather, a very successful architect, used to say, “A 29-cent notepad can be more valuable than a million-dollar memory.” As an experienced personal injury attorney, I recommend that you include the following information in your pain diary when you document your accident injuries, under these categories:- Pain Description. Here, I would describe the pain location, type (shooting, burning, pressure, etc.), and degree of pain (on a scale of 1-10, with 10 being uncontrolled weeping). Also, note the time of day and how long the pain lasted.
- Medication Taken. A simple description of the name of the medication, dosage, and when it was taken will suffice. I would list both prescription and over-the-counter medications.
- Medical Visit. It's incredibly important to seek medical attention after an accident. Keep a list of all of your medical visits whether they are doctors, nurse practitioners, chiropractors, physical therapists, mental health counselors, or massage therapists, etc. You should also keep track of all phone calls made to the doctor or the doctor’s nurse.
- Bills Paid. Here, I recommend showing what bills were paid, or turned over to insurance for payment, and the date. This is also a good location to keep track of your co-pays made on larger medical bills.