Tracking Neuropathy Symptoms By Means Of A Diary

Today's post from siren.care (see link below) comes from a company selling socks designed for neuropathy (and other) patients to be able to monitor their foot temperature (via sensors in the socks themselves) and therefore be forewarned about possible inflammation. Now this blog tries its best not to advertise for other people but in this case, the advice given about monitoring your own foot symptoms is so good that it's worth publicising. For further information about the socks, it's best to go to the Siren website itself but the idea of keeping a foot health diary is extremely useful in itself. Neuropathy patients are confronted daily with a bewildering array of symptoms which are inconsistent and confusing - we can never seem to keep track of progress (or the lack of) and can't judge which external factors are playing a part in our symptoms, in order to change our habits or behaviour in the future. Keeping a diary is a logical and obvious choice because that may provide clues as to why some days or weeks are better than others. You can make it as simple or as detailed as you want, so long as the info is useful to you.  Try explaining to doctors what your symptoms have been over the last three months for instance - virtually impossible but with reference to a diary or journal, we can provide much more accurate information. The article provides some examples...also apps for your phone. Definitely worth a read and trying out.

Diabetic Foot: The Importance of Tracking Your Symptoms 
February 1, 2018

When you have a chronic health condition like diabetes and/or neuropathy, it’s important to track your symptoms. When you track your symptoms, along with what you do every day, you may get some important clues as to why you’re feeling worse or better some days.

Just like you track and monitor your blood sugar levels, you should track and monitor your foot health. Over time you or your doctor may notice trends that help you make better decisions about your health.

How to Make a Foot Health Journal

Step 1: Pick any journal that works for you, some people use a larger calendar so they don’t have to write down dates.

Step 2: Decide what you want to track. Pick the things that are important to you, or that you want to improve. Here are some ideas:

Pain Level
Exercise Amount
Foot Problems
Temperature Monitoring Data
Diet
Visual and Physical Foot Checks
Sleep Quality
Weather
Therapy/Interventions
Stress Level
Medications
Blood Sugar Levels
Important Events

Step 3: Consistently track and write down what you did each day, and how it made you feel. It’s possible that there’s a connection between what you’re doing and your pain or symptoms on that specific day.

You may discover that certain activities improve your pain level, while the weather may worsen your symptoms.

How Siren Diabetic Socks Help

When you wear Siren Diabetic Socks, we monitor your feet so that you know if and when there’s a potential problem. Simply put on the socks like you would any normal sock, it’s that simple. Throughout the day, miniature sensors embedded into the fabric of the socks monitor the temperature of your feet.


 
By doing this, we can find what’s called inflammation. Inflammation is the first sign of a potentially serious foot injury. We notify you that there’s a potential problem with your feet so that you can go to the doctor for a full evaluation and treatment plan. You can also look at your daily foot health over time to see what is happening with your feet over time.

Symptom Journals and Tools

Please let us know in the comments below how you track and monitor your symptoms, or chart your progress over time! Here are some resources you may find helpful now to start tracking your symptoms:

My Pain Diary – Chronic Pain and Symptom Tracker
Daily Pain Diary
Simple Symptom Diary
Symple Symptom Tracker
 
https://siren.care/blog/diabetic-foot-use-a-journal-to-track-symptoms/