The road to recovery after suffering a serious injury in an accident can be an arduous and painful journey. At times, it can feel like one day blends into the next, with weeks or even months feeling like one traumatic and agonizing experience.

If you’re planning to file a personal injury claim, it’s important to keep track of each moment of your recovery. Forgetting important details could make it difficult for you to build a case for certain damages such as pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment in life, and loss of consortium.

As such, it may be in your best interests to start a personal injury journal. This is a post-accident diary you can use to log each painful step during your treatment. Let’s look at some of the types of information you should keep track of in your journal:

1. Keep Tabs on Your Pain Levels

If you experience any type of pain related to your injuries, you should note these moments down in your journal. Make sure to describe where you’re experiencing this pain, the severity of such sensations, and their duration. It might be useful to rank the extent of your pain on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 representing minor discomfort and 10 representing debilitating agony. Keeping track of your pain levels can help contextualize your medical records, giving others a window into the many ways in which your injury has impacted your emotional, psychological, and physical well-being.

2. Write Down Medication Side-Effects

If you’ve been prescribed certain types of drugs by your healthcare provider, you should use your journal to keep track of any side-effects you experience. Opposing parties might attempt to attribute some of these complications to your own actions or inaction, so keeping detailed logs of any adverse reactions could make it easier to counter such disputes.

3. Describe How Your Injuries Limit You

A serious injury can prevent you from engaging in many different types of activities you were able to do by yourself prior to the accident. For instance, you might be unable to do household chores, work, drive, take care of your children, cook meals, or enjoy your favorite pastimes.

Fortunately, you might be able to recover compensation for many of the ways in which your condition has limited you. As such, you should keep detailed logs of every moment your injuries inhibit your ability to do certain activities. For example, if you were an avid cyclist before the accident but your injuries now prevent you from riding your bike, you might be able to seek compensation for loss of enjoyment in life.

4. Write a Detailed Account of the Accident

As soon as possible after the incident, you should write down what you can remember about this traumatic experience. This will ensure important details are preserved while your memory is still fresh. Your attorney may want to read this account to help plan their investigation and identify evidence that could help corroborate your version of events.

Discuss Your Case with a Las Vegas Personal Injury Attorney

Were you hurt in an accident caused by someone else’s negligence? Starting a personal injury journal is just one of many steps you can take to help strengthen your case. At Maier Gutierrez & Associates, our personal injury lawyers can help handle the logistics of your case such as investigating the accident and gathering the necessary evidence to prove liability and damages.

We can also provide tenacious representation at each step of proceedings. Reach out to us at 702-629-7900 or by sending us a message using our contact form HERE to request a free case assessment.