Pain Research, Translated: Why Function Matters as Much as Pain Scores
A plain-English pain research explainer on why function, sleep, walking, activity, and quality of life matter alongside pain scores.
How a New App is Helping Doctors Treat Pain
As a patient, it can often be very frustrating describing your pain to a doctor especially as a chronic pain patient. Difficulties can stem from not knowing how to accurately describe the severity of pain being experienced. Fortunately, a new phone app and website called Pain.com aims to relieve some of the confusion.
Closing the Link
Pain.com balances between being simple enough for patients to use while also displaying enough practical information for doctors. The application works by allowing the patient to mark spots on a diagram of the human body. Patients are able to record types of pain they are experiencing, how intense the pain is, and where the pain happens on a daily basis. Doctors are able to view this data from their computers to better manage the pain as it develops, making it easier to recognize patterns that are indicative of certain conditions. The application has features that allow doctors to organize the data they receive, including:
- A desktop app that makes it easy to share data between different devices
- Data exportation that can be used for other assessment tools within the clinic
- A multi-level security system that anonymizes patient data
- Built-in documentation and tutorials
How Pain.com can Affect Future Appointments
Navigate Pain is currently in beta and not for sale on any app stores. Shellie Boudreau – the CEO of the company which designed the software – wants to establish a wide reaching audience for the platform. Boudreau, who is also a professor at Aalborg University, plans to showcase the tools provided by the app at several trade shows in Denmark. Boudreau's goal is finding prolific partners in the health technology field who can help with exposure.
Navigate Pain is not intended for just the public. There are development plans for academic users who aim to further chronic pain research with the anonymized data gathered by the app. While developments are not guaranteed, this app and others like it, are certainly helpful for chronic pain patients who cannot reasonably predict when their next pain flare will occur.
Communication between patients and doctor is key to recovery. Pain Specialty Group has helped people throughout New England with a variety of chronic pain conditions. If you feel as if chronic pain is having a significant effect on your life, contact us here today to schedule an appointment.
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