# Body discomfort

Pain or soreness from any cause, rated 0 to 10 each evening; Symptom Radar takes it into account, and it is a small input to Capacity.

Type: biomarker · Unit: 0–10 · Domain: Stress, Rest & Recovery · Accuracy: Self-reported · Importance: Supporting

Also called: soreness, soreness score, muscle soreness, DOMS, pain rating, aches, stiffness

## In one sentence

One number, 0 to 10, for the total physical discomfort you are in from any cause: training soreness, joint stiffness, a headache, a sore throat, an injury.

## Why it matters

Discomfort moves the overnight readings. Pain and soreness raise the heart rate and lower HRV through the night and break sleep up, so a body that is sore from a hard leg session can look, to a sensor, much like a body that is under strain for another reason. VT asks for the discomfort so that it does not have to guess which, and so that the overnight comparison can give the affected readings less weight. The question is deliberately about the total, not the cause: the sensor does not know the difference either.

## What moves it

Training, with a one- to two-day lag for soreness; injury; a cold; sleeping badly; sitting badly; the weather, for some joints. It is the one daily question whose answer you know with certainty.

## How to answer it well

In the evening, for the day as a whole, on a scale where 0 is none and 10 is severe pain. Put the cause in the day's notes if it matters to you; the number is what VT uses.

## How Vitality Tracker uses it

Symptom Radar takes high discomfort the evening before into account: it gives that night's deep sleep less weight before the morning's result is given. Yesterday's discomfort is also a small input to Capacity's recovery side. It does not enter the sleep scores or the Vitality Score, and VT never reads it as a sign of anything on its own.

## How far to trust the number

Self-reported, and reliable for what it is: a 7 today and a 2 yesterday is a real difference in your experience, and that is all VT asks of it.

## Method

Single 0–10 rating stored per day; a small input to Capacity's recovery side, and a confounder for Symptom Radar, "high" meaning above your own 85th percentile and at least 3.

## Sources

1. Vitality Tracker, How it works: Symptom Radar (what it takes into account)
2. Vitality Tracker, What VT measures (catalogue of 15 October 2026).

## Related

- [Symptom Radar and Symptom Trend](https://vitalitytracker.app/knowledge/symptom-radar-and-symptom-trend)
- [Overnight resting heart rate](https://vitalitytracker.app/knowledge/overnight-resting-heart-rate)
- [Perceived exertion: the Borg CR10 scale](https://vitalitytracker.app/knowledge/perceived-exertion-borg-cr10)
- [Training load and Cardio Load](https://vitalitytracker.app/knowledge/training-load-and-cardio-load)
- [Sick days, holidays and unusual periods](https://vitalitytracker.app/knowledge/sick-days-holidays-and-unusual-periods)

Reviewed October 2026 · v1

Source: https://vitalitytracker.app/knowledge/body-discomfort