You know it's coming; it happens every month without fail. It's her period. Her period of what? Well, that depends on the girl. It could be crying, fits of anger, yelling, pizza consumption, or chocolate obsession.
A woman’s menstrual cycle has become one of the internet’s memes, but truth be told, it is often an overlooked issue in our society. While it is common knowledge that it could disrupt abilities to participate actively in day-to-day activities, women in low-income countries view menstruation as a burden. With today’s technology, however, the horror stories of debilitating period pain women often swap in locker rooms could someday be a distant memory.
‘Period tech’ on the rise
Apps of all sorts have become part of the lives of many, if not, all people. So period-tracking apps shouldn’t come as a surprise, really. What’s surprising though is, fertility and menstruation apps, along with various wearables for women, will grow to a whopping $101 billion industry, App Annie reported.
One period app called Clue is now worth $30 million, while Ava, a fertility tracking wearable, has raised around $12 million. Another app that’s gaining the vote of most women is MyFLO, created by nutritionist Alisa Vitti. While hormone-tracking apps vary in the subtlest of ways, it generally helps women track their monthly cycle, find patterns in symptoms, and helps to fix the root cause of these symptoms.
What symptoms are we talking about here?
Cramping, acne, bloating, and mood swings: according to Vitti, women with healthy hormones should not suffer from these symptoms during their periods. A lot of women opted to just live with them, mostly because we’ve come to accept the physical and psychological issues known as premenstrual syndrome, or PMS, as an inevitable consequence of femaleness.
But PMS symptoms are not a normal part of life, Vitti said – a claim that’s also backed by Women’s Health Network. Symptoms are generally warning signs from our bodies that something is out of balance. These hormonal swings are absolutely signs that you need to address your diet to balance your hormones, a key step in leveraging your cycle to become a power manifester—and for this reason, it’s important to track your period symptoms and learn what to do to fix them.
How period-tracking apps help
Such apps enable users to note down their periods on a calendar. Depending on the app, the information is used to predict when menstruation will start, as well as other factors including spotting, the heaviness of flow, and mood. Those who are trying to conceive can also track their fertility.
The market is booming in apps that offer women the chance to monitor the cycles of their monthly periods, with as many as 200 million downloads of period tracking apps worldwide, BBC reported. Of course, taking into consideration that not all apps are created equal, it is important for women to be at the helm of this burgeoning industry and the medical research that drives it.
