Wearable Health Trackers: The Pros and Cons for Women
do You Track Your Health? The Pros and Cons of Wearables for Women
Fitness watches. Heart rate monitors. Oura rings. Cycle trackers. Sleep monitors. These days, it seems like everyone has some kind of health data strapped to their wrist or finger. But are these devices truly helpful for women’s health, or are they just another layer of noise?
At Seven Points Wellness, we believe body awareness is powerful. When it comes to technology it is important to weigh the benefits against the drawbacks. Here is our view on the pros and cons of wearable health trackers, especially for women.
The Pros
✅ Cycle Awareness
Many wearables now include menstrual tracking features including tracking Basal Body Temperature (BBT). This can help you understand the rhythm of your cycle and identify shifts in hormones, making it easier to identify when your energy is likely to be at its at its peak or when you body may require rest and when your period is due.
Cycle monitoring plays a big role when trying to to conceive as it can help you identify your fertile window or notice irregularities.
Cycle tracking is also helpful during perimenopause, when cycles become less regular understanding your body’s changes can help guide you to more supportive care.
✅ Sleep and Stress Monitoring
Wearables often track sleep stages such as light, deep and REM sleep which can provide insight into your sleep quality. Heart rate variability (HRV) monitoring is also a common feature that can reveal how your nervous system is coping and recovering during sleep. This data can guide changes to your routine and bed time if you are struggling with insomnia, chronic stress, or fatigue.
✅ Encouragement to Move
Most devices offer gentle prompts to move or breathe throughout the day. This can be helpful if you’re office based and need a reminder to head outdoors to move your body and get some fresh air. Regular movement improves circulation, mood, and hormone regulation.
✅ Seeing Patterns Over Time
Over weeks or months, wearable data can highlight patterns you might miss. You might notice poor sleep after certain foods or alcohol, better sleep quality and length when a bedtime is early, increased anxiety before your period, or low energy in specific cycle phases. This can help us work with our body’s natural patterns rather than against them.
The Cons
❌ Too Much Focus on Data
Sometimes we trust the device more than our own body. You may feel exhausted even when your tracker says you slept well, or feel calm while your data shows “high stress.” This can lead to confusion and second-guessing your instincts. Trust your body.
❌ Not Designed for Women’s Bodies
Most wearable algorithms are based on male physiology, males do not have fluctuating hormones throughout the month as women do with their menstrual cycle. This can make data interpretations less relevant or even misleading for women. For example it can be normal in the luteal phase for your sleep to be disrupted, this may flag on your tracking app as a sleep issue when in reality it is part of your natural and normal monthly hormone cycle.
❌ Fuelling Perfectionism or Anxiety
Constant tracking of steps, sleep, and stress can become overwhelming and in some cases people can become obsessive trying to hit certain figures. Some women may start chasing numbers instead of tuning into how they actually feel thus losing their intuition into what their body is telling them. “Bad’ data can create anxiety, guilt or shame particularly if there are perfectionist tendencies.
❌ Yin Depletion
From a Chinese Medicine perspective, constant stimulation can impact and disturb our Shen (spirit) and deplete our yin. Yin is the cooling, nourishing, restful aspect of our health, it declines naturally with age during perimenopause and menopause. If you’re already feeling burnt out or depleted, being “on” and monitored all day and working hard to meet targets can further deplete your yin.
Our Perspective at Seven Points Wellness
Tracking can be a helpful tool, but it is not the whole picture. These devices work best when paired with body awareness, intuition, and space to rest. Your body speaks to you in subtle ways. Sometimes a quiet walk, deep breath, a catch up with friends or warm meal can be more beneficial than meeting a daily step goal.
We encourage clients to use wearable data thoughtfully. Track what is meaningful, take breaks if it becomes overwhelming, and use what you learn to support your wellbeing without becoming attached to the numbers. It is important to listen to your body first and the device second.
