AMBER MATTICE
Managing Editor
Yep. You read it right. We’re here today to talk about periods. The bane of every human being’s existence that has to deal with bleeding for a week straight. Like it’s perfectly okay to have to suffer like that with no control over when or how long it happens.
Which is exactly why I love “Clue,” a period and health tracker available on the App Store. Developed by BioWink GmbH, the app keeps tabs on several different facets of your health and lifestyle that affect your menstrual cycle. It tracks things like how your skin and hair are doing, levels of pain, sexual activity, exercise, sleep habits, general emotions and mental health.
It basically divides your cycle into three different sections: period, fertility and PMS. It updates every time new data is inputted and offers advice or general tips and information about menstrual cycles and the various aspects of health associated with the monthly cycle.
The app has a rating of four and a half stars on the App Store which I would say is pretty accurate. It’s not perfect and some of the information to input won’t pertain to every individual that deals with a period.
The great thing about the app, however, is that it still updates and gives you information regarding your cycle despite not inputting all of the information. There are over 30 different options and I know I forget to put in certain things more often than not but it still gives as accurate a reading as possible.
“On Clue, I only enter data for 8 of the available 31 categories (my partner is a woman, which lets me eliminate a good seven or eight items dedicated to pregnancy and birth control), but still . . . I hand over a lot of information,” said Katie Heaney in an article for “The Cut” in 2017. “And while I’ve found them helpful in knowing when to expect my period — and likewise the PMS that precedes it — I’ve started to wonder whether they might give me a bit too much information in return.”
What Heaney is discussing at the end is a very real problem that many people with period tracking apps deal with. While they can be reassuring and make going to the doctor’s office an easier process (you can actually look at the exact day that you last got your period which I ALWAYS forget), they can also cause more stress than they are intended to.
When you look at an app that is telling you that you should be PMSing for the next week, you wonder if your anxieties and frustrations are legitimate or whether it’s simply because of your period. I think the important thing to remember here is that your feelings and emotions are valid regardless of the current state of your menstrual cycle.
“Clue” offers a lot of information about periods in general and abnormalities regarding yours that may be cause for concern. Abnormally long or short periods, unhealthy habits or serious pain causes the app to offer you advice about whether you should consider going to see your gynecologist. They back up their information with medical studies and health journals, all listed as sources within the app which I appreciate as someone who is always curious about where statistics are coming from.
Finally, after you have gone through at least one full cycle (a full month in between two periods) they give you an average of your period’s length, the consistent data you’ve inputted, etc. It helps you to see abnormalities in your cycle and also just helps to educate you on your own body.
I also love it because I can see consistent signs when I’m about to get my period like headaches, low energy levels or lack of sleep and I can prepare for the misery that is about to enter my life.
I’d definitely recommend the app to anyone who is curious to see how tracking their period helps them keep track of their physical, mental and emotional health. While I’m not great at updating it everyday, I do enjoy seeing how the data changes as I add new information and it has definitely been really informative thus far.
Periods are absolutely no fun, but talking about them doesn’t have to be so difficult. Lots of people have to suffer through them and it’s important to understand such an integral part of the way your body functions.