Apps for Rheumatoid Arthritis: Try These Helpful Apps
More and more people all over the world are using technology to manage their health conditions better. However, the Mobile Health Alliance has some concerns that not all apps may be accurate enough – for example, Pfizer‘s app developed for RA was withdrawn from the market back in 2011 because it gave faulty results.
Therefore, you do have to be careful about the apps you choose to use to monitor your condition. There are eleven apps for rheumatoid arthritis are suggested by RA experts and people living with RA.
1. MyRA
The MyRA app is free and is compatible with Apple devices. It has been created to help you track your RA symptoms and creates visual snapshots of your data, with options to make notes on different parts of your body where you experience symptoms.
It also creates a summary report that your doctor can review and evaluate changes in your condition since the last visit.
2. MyMedSchedule
Remembering to take medications every day can be challenging, especially is some need to be taken at specific times. Your treatment plan may also change from time to time, based on how your condition progresses. Missing doses or taking the wrong doses can affect your symptoms.
MyMedSchedule is a secure medication schedule and reminder, which includes photos of your pills. The app tells you when you should take pills or supplements, as well as the dosage and the purpose of the drugs.
You can set up the reminders to receive either a text or an email at the time you need to take your pill. You can print or save the report and bring it to your doctor at the next visit. Simply put, with MyMedSchedule you will never forget to take your pills. The app is free and compatible with Apple devices.
3. RxmindMe
Also free and compatible with Apple devices, RxmindMe is an alternative to MyMedSchedule, as it has been designed to remind you and keep track of the prescription pills and supplements you are taking.
Based on how frequently you take the meds, you can choose one of the nine types of reminders. You can also review a drug by searching the FDA Drug database, track your prescriptions and send it by email to your doctor. If you want to protect your information, no problem – you can protect it with a passcode.
4. HealthLog
The HealthLog app helps you to track daily health, diet and exercise data. It can also remind you of doctor’s appointments.
While this app is not designed specifically for people with RA, it is a great way to track your overall health and fitness, including blood pressure, mood, weight, water intake, and workouts. This app also helps you to track pain, including pain type, severity and location.
5. My Pain Diary
The Pain Diary app was created by someone living with pain to track their symptoms and triggers. When you input your information on pain symptoms and triggers, and your lifestyle, the app gives you a report for managing your pain better.
The Pain Diary is very user-friendly and customizable. It includes graphs and calendars to help you measure pain trends and patterns.
The app also allows you an opportunity to create a record of your pain condition that you can share with your doctor.
6. RA Helper
The RA Helper app is your virtual assistant to track and manages everything from disease activity to symptoms, medications, and doctor appointments.
Designed specifically for people living RA, this app allows you track fluctuations in symptoms since RA can change rapidly from one day to the next. This mapping feature lets you track joint pain, morning stiffness, fatigue, and physical function.
You can also track medications and laboratory testing, and easily share the information with your doctor.
7. Track + React
Track + React is your day-to-day RA wellness app. With this app, you can track diet, exercise, sleep, symptoms, medication, test results, and moods.
By tracking, you can better understand how your day-to-day activities affect your disease. The Arthritis Impact graph helps you to manage trends so that you can easily review the information with your doctor.
The Track + React is available for both Apple and Android devices. What is unique about this app is it allows you to easily track what you have eaten and how much activity and the type of activity you have done over time.
Because of the data it collects, it can help you figure out what factors, including diet and environment, might be triggering your RA pain and other symptoms.
8. Rheumatrack
The Rheumatrack app was designed for RA patients to create a personal diary to track pain, symptoms, and additional RA medical information. This app is also a medical scheduler where you set reminders for doctor’s appointments.
Rheumatrack is available for both Apple and Android devices, and it is easy to use because of its VAS (visual analog system) design. For example, the tracking tool helps you track pain by using emojis to indicate how severe pain is, and where it is by tapping on different joints on the image of a person.
9. MedCoach Medication Reminder
MedCoach is available for both Apple and Android devices. It is excellent for people who forget to take their meds.
With the MedCoach, your smartphone will remind you to with a medication schedule you create, and then alarms sound at the appropriate times for taking your medications.
The MedCoach app also offers reminders to refill medications and keeps a list for you to take to doctor appointments.
10. Rheumabuddy
Rheumabuddy allows you to create a summary of your life with RA on a day-by-day basis. This app finds patterns that contribute to symptoms to help you get better control of your RA.
This app allows you to record audio and upload pictures. It is also very user-friendly, with emojis and sliding scales to represent and track pain levels.
11. Rheumatoid Arthritis Diary
The Rheumatoid Arthritis Diary app is available for both Apple and Android devices. The app is designed to track information about RA, including triggers, to predict and manage your RA.
The RA Diary makes tracking treatments, graphing tests, and emailing information to your doctor easy, as it offers a great way to track your health record. The calendar feature is very detailed, allowing you to note patterns of sleep, diet, medication and anything else that might affect pain and symptoms.
With time, this app helps you to learn what your RA triggers are, so you are better able to manage your disease.
Take Note
All these apps rely on your self-reports, so you should use them consistently. Checking every few days isn’t going to help you track how RA affects you.
Therefore, you should stay on top of the app you choose. And it won’t be long before you start to see how your routines affect your life with RA and how making improvements can reduce pain and symptoms.