When you’re not feeling well, the last thing you think about is stopping and taking time to document how you’re feeling. You’re just not feeling well!
But for providers to give their most accurate diagnosis, it is helpful for you to document your symptoms over time, and in a detailed fashion. Here’s a quick mnemonic to help you remember what to write down: OPQRST.
- Onset: when did you start feeling symptoms?
- Provocation: what made it begin? What makes it worse or better?
- Quality: Use adjectives here. Is it itchy, cold, numb, sensitive, sharp, or tingling?
- Radiation: does the pain move around or is it in one specific area?
- Severity: How do you feel on a scale of 1-10, 1 being no pain, 4 being moderate pain, and 10 being the worst pain possible?
- Time: Does it come and go? How long have you had it?
