Best period tracking apps to understand your cycle

Gone are the days of marking your diary with an inconspicuous asterisk – here are the best period tracking apps to track everything from symptoms to fertility.
To some degree or another, we track everything in our lives these days – from our money and time to our fitness and diet. Whether for our wellbeing, prosperity or physical health, we recognise the importance of tracking these things in order to ensure each continues to operate optimally for our individual needs.

Your cycle firmly falls into the category of things to be tracked. As something that can affect both your health and wellbeing, the importance of not only tracking but also understanding your cycle, is high. To help you appreciate why tracking your cycle is so important we’ve collated five of the best period tracking apps to help you understand all aspects of your menstrual cycle – from moods to physical symptoms, cravings, and fertility.

WHY DO WE NEED TO UNDERSTAND OUR CYCLES?
As women, we live out a substantial percentage of our lives with monthly menstruation as a mainstay in our lives. However, having accepted this biological fact into the regular routine of our lives, it’s easy to become complacent about it as the years pass by. We all understand the general premise of our period but for health reasons particularly – both now and down the track – it’s important to be more aware of the individuality of our cycles.

PHYSICAL HEALTH: SOMETHING’S AMISS
When you’re in touch with your body and regular cycle, you’re more likely to be able to identify when something isn’t right. Your menstrual cycle often reflects your overall health, so when it becomes irregular it’s your body’s way of letting you know that there’s a health problem. This could be anything from hormone and thyroid functioning; liver or bowel issues; significant weight loss or gain; or extreme stress. A visit to your doctor will be able to shed light on what exactly the issue is and how it can be fixed.

IMPACTING MOOD AND WELLBEING
It’s certainly no surprise that we experience highs and lows in our mood at different stages of our monthly cycle. However, by actively tracking your cycle you’re better able to be reactive and work around the mood changes you experience at different stages. Your menstrual cycle has been shown to impact your wellbeing through both direct mood-altering symptoms (think anxiety, intense mood swings; cravings; and increased sex drive) and physical symptoms that propel irritability (such as inflammation – a precursor of the blues; soreness; severe pain; heavy bleeding; or the absence of your period). Whether you’re prone to bouts of hunger and a short fuse or bloating and cramps, anticipating these symptoms before the fact can assist you in mentally and physically preparing yourself with the remedies that you know work best for you.

FERTILITY AND PREGNANCY
If you’re looking to fall pregnant, tracking your cycle is undoubtedly key in increasing your chances. Accurate period tracking allows you to identify the days you are most fertile and subsequently improve the chances of conception are significant.

OUR PICK OF THE BEST PERIOD TRACKING APPS

1. Eve

From tracking your cycle to your health and sex life, Eve represents the next-gen of period trackers. The app cleverly identifies trends and patterns unique to your body through compatibility with the Health App, linking the impacts of your diet, exercise and sleep. The highly interactive app also gives you access to a community to chat all things sex and birth control.

Free with in-app purchases.

2. Clue

Uniquely integrating science into identifying your unique patterns, Clue offers in-depth medical references to help you better understand your cycle. Using a special algorithm, this app alerts you when your next cycle is about to begin; when your fertile window is; and when to expect PMS amongst other things.

Free with in-app purchases.

3. Menstrual Period Tracking

This clever app automatically predicts menstruation through keeping track of your previous cycles, allowing you to pinpoint the date of your next period. Each day you can track a range of things like flow and body temperature, but perhaps the best feature is the ability to track up to four symptoms including migraines and pain.

Free with in-app purchases.

4. Life

A true all-rounder, the Life app tracks pretty much everything in an innovative and clutter-free calendar format, presents a range of statistics to you at a glance. Life will track your period; ovulation predictions; moods; cycle and menstrual history; and symptoms in comprehensive detail.

Free with in-app purchases.

5. Period Tracker Journal

This highly rated app allows you to track all things cycle related and more. From your period, moods and health symptoms to medications, weather correlations and general notes, the app covers all bases – the added ability to sync it with your calendar offers an additional plus.

Free with in-app purchases.

With so many apps on offer, there’s undoubtedly one to suit every woman’s wants and needs. – so, go on and download because regardless of which app you choose, it’s guaranteed to be a more useful and worthwhile than your candy crush app!

 

image: Kaboom pics / Photographer, unknown