My New Favorite Health and Wellness Apps

Lately, as I recently had to address a major health concern, I find myself giving a lot of thought to my health, and of course, being the technology lover that I am, I went searching for some apps to help!  Of course diet and fitness apps are the obvious selections, but I wanted to go above and beyond searching for weight loss to address general overall health needs and to find apps that would be handy for daily use.

Weeding through the wealth of apps available, I came up with a few favorites that have now taken up residency on my smartphone.  I hope you will find a new favorite among this list of health and wellness apps that will  be helpful for your personal health needs.

1. Sleep Cycle. Getting adequate sleep is a key ingredient in the recipe for good health. There are many apps that can help you make sure you’re getting the most out of your sleeping hours, but I thought this one was really cool because it measures your movements in the bed. You set the alarm for the time you want to wake up, and the sleep cycle app will wake you up in the half hour before that when you’re moving around the most so that you aren’t jolted out of bed during REM sleep. You get up feeling optimally rested and less groggy.
2. Pill Reminder App – This app, available for both Apple and Android, is perfect for people who have to take a lot of medications. You simply input your medications into the app and it will let you know when you need to take them next, when they need to be refilled, and if there are any potential interactions. It also gives you drug information, so if you happened to be pregnant and wanted to see if that cold medication is classified as Category B or C, you’d be able to easily do that.
3. Blood Pressure Tracker, available for both Apple and Android, allows you to record your heart rate, blood pressure, and weight at any time of the day. You can then have the app print, export, email, and even send your information to your doctor to review.

There are all sorts of charts to see patterns or measure progress, so if you’re a visual person, you’ll find it has the functionality you need.

4. WebMD Symptom Checker – Just like the online version of the popular Web MD’s symptom checker, you input your symptoms, the app asks you a few questions, and then gives you some possibilities of what your diagnosis is. It stores your information and you can get reports that you can then give to your doctor at your next visit. You can research supplements, prescription medications, and medical conditions all from within the app, even if you don’t have an internet connection. Symptom Checker also has a drug identifier, gives you first aid information, and will even direct you to the nearest hospital in an emergency situation.
5. iTriage – This one is similar to WebMD, but I thought it worth mentioning. The app asks you a series of questions to help give you a possible diagnosis. Once it thinks it knows what’s wrong, it tells you what to do next. Example: Your inputs indicate that you have a broken ankle. The app will tell you to ice, elevate, and get xrays. It will let you know if you should just continue to “wait it out” or go get medical attention.

I was pretty impressed by what I found out there to help with health issues – I even came across an app for an on-call couple’s therapist! Isn’t technology amazing?

Do you use an app to help you stay healthy? Which one is your favorite?