Whether you deal with migraines, seasonal allergies, food sensitivities, or similar recurrent issues, symptom tracker apps can be useful for keeping all relevant health information in one place. Use them to avoid known triggers or identify other possible causes of health problems. Here’s a roundup of some of the top apps for anticipating and managing upcoming symptoms, as well as pinpointing potential triggers.
1. Migraine Buddy: Track Headaches
Migraine Buddy is a comprehensive app packed with features that make it easy to predict and manage incoming headaches. Track migraine attacks with this hugely popular app and try to identify your own triggers. Find out more about your migraines and their patterns, plus what type of relief helps most. When setting up the app, you can decide what you want to focus on: finding triggers and relief, understanding migraines, or talking to a doctor.
To record migraines, note the start and end times as well as the types of attacks. There are several options to choose from, including migraine, tension-type headache, cluster headache, postdrome, or prodrome. Include the level of pain, where you were when the headache started, and any additional symptoms.
The long list of possible triggers includes stress, sleep issues, anxiety and even variations of the weather. The app invites you to consider a number of causes, be it food allergies or dehydration. Possible relief methods you can try (and note in the app) include relaxing in a dark room, trying meditation, or taking a shower. Finally, take note of how the headache affected your activities, resulting in problems at work or at home.
2. Weatherwell: Health Forecast
Track how the weather may be affecting your health with this app. The weather can affect issues like headaches, joint problems, or allergies, and this app can help you recognize and prepare for symptoms before they develop.
In the app, you gain insights, track symptoms and get accurate weather forecasts. There’s also the option to focus on particular symptoms, including headaches, allergies, skin health, and your mood. Just fill out a quick questionnaire about your age, height, and location, and the app is all set.
WeatherWell’s main view provides information on the heat index, potential allergens in the air, air quality, and more. There is also a section that notes the likelihood of experiencing symptoms on a particular day. For example, changes in atmospheric pressure may make you prone to experiencing headaches.
The logbook helps track day-to-day symptoms as well as possible additional triggers, including stress, illness or travel. The free WeatherWell app makes it easy to monitor your health in a number of ways and potentially uncover the causes of certain symptoms.
3. My Pollen Forecast – Allergies
View areas with high pollen counts on a map, get a two-day pollen forecast, and track allergy symptoms in a diary with this allergy-specific app.
You can use location services to view the pollen count for your particular area, or to view other locations on a map. At this time the app supports the entire United States and territories of the United Kingdom. It’s interesting to explore the map and see how different allergies affect different parts of the world.
A diary feature helps pinpoint which potential allergens cause you the most trouble, whether they’re grass, nettle, ragweed, or something else entirely. The My Pollen Forecast app is an easy way to track allergy symptoms and possibly determine their cause.
4. Plume Labs: Air Quality App
Get pollution maps for major urban areas to learn more about air quality and how it affects your health with the Plume Labs app. The Plume Air Quality Index (AQI) shows the level of pollution in your area, with higher numbers indicating more pollution. A low AQI that is less than 20 indicates a clear day to enjoy the outdoors, while a very high level of around 125 can have negative health effects on at-risk individuals (and if exposed for too long). If so on everyone else).
The granular map in the Plume Labs app provides detailed air quality reports for your exact location, down to street names. There’s also a chart that predicts what the air quality will be for each hour of the day. You can review past days’ reports and see the best and worst days of the year for your area along with annual averages.
Specific categories also focus on whether it is safe for sensitive individuals (including infants) to be outside for too long. There is also an option to receive air quality notifications for your city. The air pollution map provides AQI levels for 107 cities around the world.
To learn more about this, read How to check air quality.
