Women knowing their menstrual cycle health and ovulation day are obviously vital both for couples with family plans and for adult women who want temporary contraception.
It is more precise than roughly recalling “When did I get my period last month?” in the past, advanced digital technology has already helped us to accurately do the specific ovulation time and our own menstrual cycle conditions, making it easier for us to determine the timing of conception or contraception through data.
Emerging wearable technologies have entered the female reproductive health market. Instead of manually entering menstrual dates into ovulation apps to record menstrual cycles in the past, a new wearable ovulation tracker can track fertility by assessing physiological changes such as basal oral or finger temperature, HRV(heart rate variability), and respiratory rate.
Research of Ovulation Tracker
According to the NLH research report, relevant authoritative medical materials such as PubMed and MEDLINE were reviewed to evaluate the effectiveness of a wearable ovulation tracker in predicting fertility and distinguishing different stages of the menstrual cycle. The result is these ovulation trackers can predict and calculate different stages of the menstrual cycle, including fertility windows, which women can use as a method of caring for their reproductive health. Moreover, most devices are highly accurate at detecting fertility and can differentiate between the luteal phase (early and late), fertile, and menstrual phases, and overall by assessing changes in heart rate, heart rate variability, body temperature, and respiratory rate. Health status.
1. Limitations of Oral Temperature Measurement
Basal body temperature (BBT) has been widely used as an ovulation measurement method. An article at Planned Parenthood “In order to track your temperature accurately, you have to do it as soon as you wake up before you even get out of bed. Take your temperature before you talk, eat, drink, have sex, check your phone — take your temperature before you do ANYTHING. Keep the thermometer in place for about five minutes.” However, it is generally difficult to measure oral temperature in most, the limitation is that oral temperature is usually higher than in other places, and hard to measure at the same time every day continuously.
The principle of BBT for predicting ovulation is to monitor a slight increase in temperature to determine whether ovulation is occurring, and there are many factors that affect oral temperature. Therefore, unless it is a very accurate BBT thermometer, ordinary thermometer measurement of oral temperature is often not very effective in helping to prepare for pregnancy or contraception.
The method of measuring oral temperature is also limited to capturing real-time body temperature changes at night during the menstrual cycle, but measuring finger temperature overcomes all the limitations, resulting in a wearable ovulation tracker such as a smart ring, and smart watches winning the market.
2. Benefits of Finger Temperature Measurement
- Direct skin temperature: When sleeping at night, the basal body temperature will be accurate the most when sleeping at night, and finger temperature can be measured directly, what is measured is the true body surface temperature, rather than the body temperature estimated through changes in the external environment.
Non-invasive: Measuring finger temperature does not require invasion into the body like oral temperature measurement, and is also convenient to continuously monitor every night, with a low sense of presence, and will not affect daily life.
Relative value: The finger temperature will be relatively lower than the temperature of other parts of the body. While continuously monitoring the finger temperature at night, the app connected to the smart ring will draw a BBT chart so that the slight increase in body temperature when ovulation occurs can be clearly detected, which is more accurate than oral measurement.
Health tracking: Your daily habits affect your BBT at night. The ring will give you personalized suggestions based on the finger temperature data to help you keep healthy.
Sampling rate: The temperature sensor of the Femometer smart ring, for example, measures your skin temperature every minute. The algorithm selects the value most likely to correlate with core body temperature and averages these data points to give you the most accurate finger temperature.
3. Other FAMS
According to JABFAM, the Billings Ovulation Method, the Creighton Model, and the Symptothermal Method are the more widely used FABMs and can be more narrowly defined as natural family planning. The first 2 methods are based on the examination of cervical secretions to assess fertility. The Symptothermal Method combines characteristics of cervical secretions, basal body temperature, and historical cycle data to determine fertility.
- Billings Ovulation Method & Creighton Model
Billings Ovulation Method or Creighton Model specifically refers to predicting ovulation by observing cervical fluid secretions daily.
Generally, cervical mucus changes in predictable ways with each menstrual cycle. About 6 days before ovulation, estrogen in a woman's body will change. In response to this change, the cervix will produce mucus that can keep sperm alive, which is called cervical mucus, in transparent and elastic texture. This mucus leaves the vagina when a woman is in an upright position, Billings ovulation method is to observe mucus through the sensation of the vulva and cervical secretions. For Billings, women pay more attention to the feeling and express it in their own words, so don’t need to learn the system and it is easier to understand and more convenient to use.
The Creighton model requires women to use a standardized recording system to track the sensation and visible appearance of cervical fluid secretions, recording the observations daily in a chart to distinguish changes and to better predict ovulation or infertility problems. Therefore, women may take longer to learn, but it is easier for a trained counselor to interpret the charts and use the information to address a range of women's health issues.
Both the Billings Ovulation Method and Creighton Model are natural fertility awareness methods(FAMs).
How to Do Women to Ovulation Tracking
1. Fertility Window
Your fertile window is the time in your menstrual cycle when you are most likely to get pregnant, measured in seven days, which for most people are five days before, the day of ovulation, and the day after. Determining the best time for sexual intercourse according to the fertility window can help you prepare for pregnancy effectively, but it is not an effective contraceptive method for you to use, and it is not recommended to use it as a basis to prevent sexually transmitted infections.
A wearable ovulation tracker that predicts ovulation day can help you identify your most fertile times and track your pregnancy conditions if you're pregnant. Some women are suffering from the pain caused by ovulation. Most of them mistakenly think that this is a symptom of dysmenorrhea, but to be precise, it is a physiological pain that may be caused when the egg leaves the ovary. It also effectively helps them prepare in advance to deal with ovulation pain by predicting ovulating day.
2. Understanding Your Menstrual Cycle
The menstrual cycle is a natural process of the female reproductive system. From the beginning of menstruation, that is, the first menstrual bleeding in adolescence, to menopause, it repeats every month. The ovulation day can be determined based on the time of menstruation, then one can be used to determine the day of ovulation.
3. What is a Healthy Menstrual Cycle?
The average menstrual cycle length is 28 days, starting on the first day of menstruation and ending the day before the next period of bleeding begins.
A healthy menstrual cycle will repeat at regular intervals, the amount of menstrual bleeding caused by each month will not vary much, and there will be no severe menstrual cramps. A healthy menstrual cycle shows that ovulation can be monitored regularly, and the accumulated data will not be wrong for analysis, the accuracy of ovulation prediction is almost over 99%. Except during pregnancy and lactation, if you have irregular menstrual cycles, severe dysmenorrhea symptoms, or excessive or insufficient menstrual bleeding, you need to seek effective guidance from a doctor in time.
4. What Causes Irregular Menstrual Cycle
Occasionally irregular menstrual cycles are normal, so please don’t be anxious. If you have long-term irregular menstrual cycles accompanied by severe menstrual cramps, please seek professional advice from a doctor promptly.
Factors that lead to long-term irregular menstrual cycles include:
Hormonal Imbalance: Fluctuations in hormone levels, particularly estrogen and progesterone, can disrupt the menstrual cycle. This imbalance can be caused by conditions such as polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), thyroid disorders, or hormonal contraception.
Stress: High levels of stress can affect hormone production, leading to irregular periods. Emotional stress, physical stress from illness excessive exercise, and changes in routine can all contribute to this.
Weight Changes: Significant weight loss or gain can disrupt hormonal balance, affecting the regularity of menstrual cycles. Eating disorders, excessive exercise, or sudden changes in diet can all impact weight and consequently menstruation.
Poor Nutrition: A diet lacking in essential nutrients can affect hormone production and overall health, leading to irregular periods. Poor nutrition can also contribute to conditions like PCOS.
Medical Conditions: Certain medical conditions such as PCOS, thyroid disorders, diabetes, and reproductive tract abnormalities can cause irregular menstrual cycles.
Medications: Certain medications, such as some antidepressants, antipsychotics, chemotherapy drugs, and corticosteroids, can interfere with hormone levels and menstrual regularity.
Perimenopause: In the years leading up to menopause, known as perimenopause, hormonal fluctuations become more pronounced, leading to irregular menstrual cycles.
Uterine Fibroids or Polyps: Benign growths in the uterus, such as fibroids or polyps, can cause irregular bleeding and affect the menstrual cycle.
Excessive Exercise: Intense or excessive exercise can affect hormone levels and disrupt the menstrual cycle, particularly in athletes or those with rigorous training regimens.
Comparing Ovulation Tracker
If you're looking for a reliable and easy-to-use ovulation tracker to help you choose to track your cycle for health, plan for pregnancy, or contraception use, Femometer can meet all your needs! You can now get rid of the trouble of getting up early to take your oral temperature(oral temperature always in low accuracy), the complicated operation of dripping urine on a stick, and the discomfort of falling asleep with the wrist on.
The Femometer smart ring has extremely high accuracy in predicting ovulation. Its non-invasive design also avoids contact with your saliva or urine, protecting your physiological hygiene. Its beautiful appearance can also be worn as daily jewelry. At the same time, you can also use the Femometer APP to draw your body temperature change curve, your fertile window, and confirm ovulation. Femometer is ready to accompany you every step of your pregnancy and reproductive health journey.
https://www.femometer.com/Products/Femometer-Smart-Ring-for-Ovulation-Tracking
Conclusion
According to a research report published by DHR on Yahoo Finance, the global smart ring market size will be US$147.1 million in 2022, and the market is expected to grow from US$1.4051 billion by 2032, with a compound annual growth rate of 25.4% during the forecast period. It can be seen that compared to wrist temperature measurement, oral temperature measurement, finger temperature measurement has clearly won the favor of the market in terms of ovulation tracking.
The reason why using finger temperature to track BBT and predict ovulation can achieve an accuracy of more than 99% is because finger temperature is a real body temperature, and it is convenient for continuous monitoring at night, and the temperature sensors of wearable devices are very sensitive and can detect Subtle changes in body temperature. Although advances in digital technology have helped women track ovulation, their effectiveness will vary between different users and different purposes of use, so the number of personally biased usage reviews will also increase. Whether you want to buy an ovulation prediction device or not depends on your own needs.
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