New App Helps Migraine Sufferers Track, Analyze Pain

A new iPhone app developed at the University of Michigan lets patients with migraine or facial pain easily track and record their pain, which in turn helps the treating clinician develop a pain management plan.

Alexandre DaSilva, DDS, DMedSc, director of the Headache & Orofacial Pain Effort at the University of Michigan School of Dentistry and one of the project developers, says the app will help people with migraine, temporomandibular disorders, and other types of facial nerve pain.

Such pain can change over time or have multiple triggers, or the same patient might respond differently to the same treatment from one attack to the next. But to develop a successful pain management plan, the researchers say it’s crucial that patients, especially migraine sufferers, relay this information to physicians. However, it can be difficult to keep a pain diary in the midst of an attack.

DaSilva says the app PainTrek makes it easy: Patients just screen tap a 3-D skull to pinpoint pain location and answer questions regarding pain intensity, external influences, and other factors.

— Source: University of Michigan