Description
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Pain Coach mobile application (app) for Veterans (Pain Coach) offers helpful tools to track and manage pain. You can reference educational information about pain; track your pain using a daily pain diary and a monthly check-in; monitor your progress managing your pain and see tables and graph of changes in your pain level over time and; use techniques and tools to manage pain.The Pain Coach App was created with Veterans and service members in mind, but anyone with chronic pain can benefit from the app’s educational resources, management tools and tracking features.
Although the app is meant to provide you with helpful tools to manage pain, the information it contains is not intended to be a substitute for clinical judgment or replace in-person visits with your VA care team.
Features:
- Track and manage pain with a daily pain dairy
- View graphs of changes in your pain level
- Learn techniques and tools to manage pain
- View educational resources about chronic pain management
- Update monthly check-in status that can be shared with your provider and Care Teams
Download Materials
Frequently Asked Questions
- Treatments & Tools Used – Record what kind of treatments and tools you used to help you manage pain.
- Health Impact & Comments – Note how pain is affecting your health and add comments.
- Pain Description – Easily check-boxes next to the kind of pain you are experiencing.
- Activity Pacing – Plans to structure activity and take timed breaks to preempt pain.
- Deep Breathing – A seven-minute directed exercise video to steady your breathing and calm you.
- Manage Thoughts – Identify thoughts that may be interfering with how you manage your pain and create helpful thoughts.
- Muscle Relaxation – A nine-minute directed muscle relaxation exercise.
- Plan a Pleasant Activity – Ideas for beginning activities you have stopped because of your pain or for trying new activities.
- Sleep Tips – View a sleep tip for how to have a more restful night.
- Visualization – A four-minute directed exercise in which you picture pleasant images.
- What is Chronic Pain? – Definitions, tips and resources about types and impact of pain for Veterans and Caregivers.
- Things that Affect Pain – Examples of how pain may impact activity, health, mood, relationships and thoughts and tips for setting goals and staying motivated.
- Caregiver Information – Guidance on how to best partner with a Veteran experiencing pain, as well as tips and resources.
If you need assistance with the Pain Coach App, dial 1-877-470-5947 to speak with a VA representative. For TTY assistance, dial 711. For clinical questions regarding your personal medical information, please contact your VA care team.
If you feel your information may have been compromised, contact your local VA facility to get contact information for your Privacy Officer. To locate your local VA facility, visit VA’s Facility Locator: http://www.va.gov/directory/guide/home.asp?isflash=1. NOTE: You should never use this app in an emergency. If you encounter an emergency, call your local medical center or dial 911 immediately.
If you have questions about your DS Logon account, visit mobile.va.gov/dslogon or dial 1-800-983-0937 for assistance.
If you have questions about your ID.me account, visit www.id.me/about.
If you have questions about your My HealtheVet Account, visit https://www.myhealth.va.gov/mhv-portal-web/user-login or dial 1-877-327-0022 for assistance.