Copy this one-page summary
The NHS guide to preparing questions for an appointment recommends bringing notes about what you want to discuss and a list of medicines. Use the full-size print sheet if you’d rather fill the summary in by hand.
| Section | What to write |
|---|---|
| Why I booked | The one thing I want help understanding or managing |
| Dates and coverage | Start and end date, with days logged out of days in the period |
| Main pattern | What changed, when, where and whether it returned to my usual |
| Daily impact | A concrete example from sleep, work, exercise or everyday life |
| What I used | Product or routine, date or frequency as recorded, what I noticed |
| My questions | One or two decisions or next steps I want to discuss |
Free templates for this guide
Open a worksheet to fill in and print, or download a blank copy. Keep completed records private and share them only with people you choose.
From scattered notes to a visit summary
Here are two fictional weeks from the same diary. The entries cover mornings only. “Worse” is the writer’s own comparison with their usual level of blockage.
Here is how the same notes could read on the finished page.
Why I booked. I’d like help understanding the recent increase in morning blockage.
Dates and coverage. 7–20 September. I recorded 11 of 14 mornings.
Main pattern. Blockage was worse than my usual on 2 of 5 recorded mornings in the first week and 4 of 6 in the second. Three second-week entries mentioned the left side felt more blocked. I’m unsure what happened on the three missed mornings.
Daily impact. I woke overnight on 10 September and wrote that I felt tired at work the next day.
What I used. I wrote down a saline rinse on 9 and 16 September. I felt clearer after the first entry. I didn’t record a follow-up after the second.
My questions. What would you look at to understand why it’s often worse on the left? What should I keep recording before we review it?
| Week | Diary entries | What the notes say |
|---|---|---|
| 7–13 Sep | 5 of 7 mornings recorded | Worse on 2 of 5. One entry mentions waking overnight. Two mornings unrecorded. |
| 14–20 Sep | 6 of 7 mornings recorded | Worse on 4 of 6. Three entries describe more blockage on the left. One morning unrecorded. |
Keep the dates and the uncertainty
If you recorded on your worst days, say so. “I only logged when it bothered me” helps the clinician interpret the entries. If your recollection reaches farther back than your diary, keep the two time frames separate: “I remember this starting around May. My dated notes begin in September.” You can use dates for visits, tests or treatments as anchors without trying to fill in everything between them.
AirBloom is being built to keep symptoms and routine logs on a dated timeline. That could make it easier to pull out the entries behind your summary when someone asks when a change began or what you were using at the time.
Give the page a job in the room
Hand it over early or read the first two lines aloud if that feels easier. Put the question that matters most at the top so you can reach it even if time is short. Leave a little room to write down what the clinician wants to check and how you’ll follow up. If you’re starting with loose notes, the seven-day sinus symptom diary has space to capture the details this summary uses.
Compare two weeks without hiding missing entries
Compare recorded days with recorded days, and report missing checks separately. Use clear, usual and worse-than-usual labels consistently. A week with more recorded worse days is not automatically worse overall when the number of completed checks also changed.
Source: AAO-HNS: Clinical Practice Guideline, Adult Sinusitis Update (2025)
Count the coverage before comparing symptoms
The fictional workbook contains fourteen planned checks, seven in each week. In week one, five checks were recorded and two were marked unknown. In week two, six were recorded and one was unknown. Neither week has an unmarked row. Unknown means that the check was missed or could not be described; it is not a clear day.
| Measure | Week 1 | Week 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Planned checks | 7 | 7 |
| Recorded checks | 5 | 6 |
| Worse than usual among recorded | 2 of 5 | 4 of 6 |
| Clear among recorded | 1 of 5 | 0 of 6 |
| Unknown checks | 2 | 1 |
| Blank or unmarked rows | 0 | 0 |
Source: AAO-HNS: Clinical Practice Guideline, Adult Sinusitis Update (2025)
Write a cautious comparison
A useful summary is: “I recorded five of seven checks in the first week and six of seven in the second. Worse-than-usual observations were more frequent among the checks I completed in week two. I cannot describe the three unknown checks, and this comparison does not establish a cause.”
Add daily impact in concrete terms, such as a work break or an interrupted walk, without turning those events into a validated score. Do not compare a morning-only week with a mixed morning-and-evening week as though the sampling were identical.
Source: AAO-HNS: Clinical Practice Guideline, Adult Sinusitis Update (2025)
Carry the uncertainty into the visit summary
Put the date range, coverage counts, main change and one question onto the one-page report. Keep the original diary available if the clinician wants more detail. One short comparison is easier to discuss than an unexplained total or a percentage with no denominator.
If some entries were recalled later, say so. Use the blank diary for the next period and keep its field order and labels consistent. The summary helps explain what was recorded; it does not establish that a routine or exposure caused the difference.
Source: AAO-HNS: Clinical Practice Guideline, Adult Sinusitis Update (2025)
Sources & further reading
- NHS guide to preparing questions for an appointment
- AAO-HNS: Clinical Practice Guideline, Adult Sinusitis Update (2025)
This guide provides general education, not individual medical advice. It has not been clinically reviewed. Talk to a qualified clinician about persistent, new or worsening symptoms. Follow your local emergency guidance for urgent concerns.
Spotted an error? Tell the editorial team.
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