APP YES or APP NO?
How to keep an eye on your menstrual cycle
Apps are now part of our life, we use them to travel, to work, to communicate with the world, to inform ourselves and also to keep an eye on our menstrual cycle. There are various types of apps that can be used during the menstrual cycle , but generally they all have the same purpose, to tell us when the next period will arrive and when we will have the next ovulation.
How do menstrual cycle apps work?
Why use apps to keep an eye on our menstrual cycle?
What can't we control with an app?
What is the right choice for me?
How do menstrual cycle apps work?
The apps that keep an eye on our menstrual cycle are very simple to use, just download the most popular one of the moment or choose an app that in our eyes is easy to use and once you have downloaded the app on our smartphone, we enter our data and that's it.
You will be asked for your date of birth, if you want to receive reminders for your period, if your periods are regular, if you have painful periods , if you have pathologies such as endometriosis or other, sometimes in some apps you will be asked how it is your sleep routine, what your sex life is like, and whether you are taking any medications or supplements .
Why use apps to keep an eye on our menstrual cycle?
The apps have very interesting aspects that can be exploited in favor of the person who menstruates, one of these is to always have the exact day of the last menstruation at hand. It is not a given for those who have irregular periods and need to monitor the time range between one period and another. Another important fact could be to understand which will be "approximately" the fertile days, ie the days in which ovulation occurs, useful information for those who want to avoid pregnancy. Within the app it is possible to write if you have experienced pain during the last menstruation, the various moods, how we slept, how our skin looks and you can receive advice to manage the small annoyances related to the menstrual cycle such as cramps, lower back pains and headaches. In short, it can certainly be a help for those who want to have an immediate input with respect to their menstrual cycle and want to have the situation always under control.
What can't we control with an app?
We just said that apps to monitor the menstrual cycle are useful tools for the person who wants to keep an eye on their cycle and wants to have all the information at hand. In reality, there are factors that are overlooked if you rely exclusively on apps, useful information to get to know your menstrual cycle in depth. First of all it is important to know that our menstrual cycle tells us how our body lives that precise moment of our life and consequently it is impossible to think that our body can live in a linear way all the moments of our life, indeed it is constantly influenced by ours. moods and context, so if the menstrual cycle tells us how our body lives, it certainly cannot always tell us the same story every month. The menstrual cycle is precisely cyclical thanks to the hormones that regulate it. In turn, hormones are regulated by what we eat, our moods, how we sleep, etc. We are human beings in constant evolution and we cannot imagine living each day the same way we lived the previous day, so our body's response varies both during the day and during our menstrual cycle. The apps are containers of information that collect generic data of a sample of people who show symptoms and similar situations, not on a single subject, they are not sewn on us. Apps help us to keep our menstrual cycle under control, but not to make the most of its benefits. The user approaches the app in passive form, entering data and receiving generic information, it does not provide us with a subjective picture of our menstrual cycle and above all it does not make us active in the journey through our menstrual cycle.
What is the right choice for me?
There is no answer to this question, each of us can choose to use the app they want or track their menstrual cycle in another way. The thing we suggest you do is to be aware of your menstrual cycle. It is the fifth vital sign after breathing and the proper functioning of heart activity therefore taking care and knowing our menstrual cycle is not only a personal responsibility, but also a social responsibility because it offers us the possibility to feel good about ourselves and therefore also with the others.