I’m Sara Janasz, a writer for TechTruster who also runs SJ Copywriter. I help women’s health brands share their customer success stories to build trust and attract investors and customers.
We at TechTruster want to continue to shine a light on (peri)menopause every day. In this article, we’ll introduce you to the technologies which can help relieve symptoms.
As a misunderstood and under-researched aspect of women’s health, Menopause has its own awareness day on the 18th of October.
If you’ve googled menopause, you’ll be excused if you’re confused. The terms perimenopause and menopause are often used interchangeably. Before we move on to the tech, let’s clarify the terms.
What is perimenopause?
Perimenopause is the transitional period all people with ovaries experience before menopause. You can expect it to happen sometime in your 40s, but it can also start in your mid-30s. In some cases, even in your 20s or teens. Perimenopause can last from a few months to over a decade.
During perimenopause, you experience a hormonal roller coaster. Your female hormones estrogen and progesterone fluctuate and gradually decrease.
These wild hormone levels can lead to many uncomfortable physical and psychological symptoms. The list is long and not complete. The most infamous symptoms are perhaps hot flashes, but others are:
- irregular periods
- sleeping difficulties
- body aches
- brain fog
- depression
- anxiety
- hair loss or gain
- weight loss or gain
- changes in skin, nails and hair
This is only a tiny fraction of how your body can respond to hormonal changes. But not everyone gets symptoms. Some women hardly notice this transition, for others, it’s so severe it affects every aspect of their life.
What is menopause?
Menopause is actually just one day in your life. It’s the day 12 months after your last period. The time after this day is called post-menopause.
The typical age when you reach menopause is 45-55 years, with an average age of 51. But you can also reach this milestone earlier. Your genes and ethnicity can influence when you experience perimenopause and menopause.
Your perimenopause symptoms will ease and eventually stop after menopause.
What treatment is there for perimenopause symptoms?
Women have put up with perimenopause symptoms since the beginning of time. We’ve been told it’s something we need to live with. But this is slowly changing, with different types of support available.
There are menopause coaches to help you adjust your lifestyle. Functional nutritionists can help you biohack your hormones. And medical doctors can provide you with hormone replacement therapy.
Hormone replacement therapy
Hormone replacement therapy, or HRT for short, is exactly what it sounds like. With lowering estrogen and progesterone, you add your missing hormones to stabilise them. This reduces or removes your uncomfortable symptoms. You can get hormones prescribed in pills, creams and patches.
HRT has had a bad reputation, with misinformed fears of it leading to cancer. But recent research shows that in small doses, it improves the health of women. Post-menopausal women have a higher risk of heart disease and osteoporosis. HRT in the correct dose for specific individuals can help lower this risk.
A more immediate benefit of HRT is that women often report that they feel like themselves again. Symptoms such as hot flashes, brain fog, and body aches can be reduced, and women often feel better and grow into their new selves.
Support in the workplace
Stigma and a lack of knowledge about perimenopause affect women in the workplace. Women worry they will be seen as less capable, and employers are clueless about how to help them.
Symptoms can affect productivity and lead to brain drain for employers. Lack of concentration, brain fog, and decreased memory can lead women to decline a promotion or even quit their jobs. With the right information and support, this can be avoided.
There is a movement in some countries to educate employers to support the 100% of women who will go through perimenopause in the workplace.
In the UK, Women of a Certain Age trains menopause coaches and businesses on how to support their mid-age female workforce. Peppy also works with employers to support employees going through the menopausal transition.
In Germany, HerMaid is breaking down the stigma by working with corporations to give their female employees the right help.
What tech supports perimenopause?
There is more awareness of the menopausal journey, and femtech brands are finding tech solutions to reduce perimenopausal symptoms. We’ve created an overview of a few examples.
Traditionally, there has been no test to diagnose perimenopause. Any loose diagnosis has been based on age and symptoms. Femtech is trying to change this.
Platforms for diagnosis, treatment & support
Perimenopause and menopause have been taboo subjects for centuries. What kind of support you can get depends on the country you live in. Healthcare providers haven’t been properly educated and have historically not always been able to help – to put it mildly.
There are platforms, especially in the US, where you can get a personalised diagnosis. You get support on your menopause journey and HRT prescriptions if you need it. Many platforms are covered under health insurance.
Examples of these platforms which offer online appointments in the US are:
Perimenopause tech platforms in Europe and beyond
In Europe, each country has its own guidelines – or not. Denmark’s parliament had an open hearing about menopause healthcare in the spring of 2024. For the most part, you’d need to go to your doctor or gynaecologist to get help. The core problem is still that not all healthcare professionals know about perimenopause.
In Italy, Pausetiv is working on changing the status quo of stigma and lack of support, with the aim of creating a hub of menopause specialists. Mameno in Poland provides information, a community, and a database of menopause specialists.
In the UK, the British Menopause Society has a list of approved Menopause specialists. This is by private appointment and not covered by the NHS. The platform Stella (also available in the US) is an online clinic where you can get personalised HRT prescriptions.
Outside the US and Europe, Miyara is working on breaking down barriers to perimenopause support in India. Here, women go into menopause earlier than their Western sisters. Miyara’s platform provides information, programmes, access to testing, and medical support. Sin Reglas does the same in Mexico.
Apps for tracking perimenopause symptoms
Perimenopause is traditionally diagnosed by your age and symptoms. So like for period tracking apps, there are many symptom trackers for women in mid-age. Most of them contain evidence-backed information, content, and a supportive community.
Some US-based apps are Menolife, Perry, and Caria.
European-based apps to track symptoms and get tailor-made programmes for relief are Olivia and MeWe&You. They are available in both Swedish and English. In Germany, there’s Femfeel and the Meno app. The Meno app uses cognitive behaviour therapy to help relieve symptoms.
In the UK, the Balance app provides evidence-based information and symptom tracking. You can also book private consultations. MySysters provides a community where you share your experiences. You can also print your symptoms to show to your doctor. Other British community-based apps are Owning Your Menopause and Responsum Health.
The Australian Evia app has developed a new approach offering a 5-week hypnotherapy programme to relieve symptoms. The Indian Elda Health app offers a holistic approach with various programmes.
Wearable tech to track perimenopause symptoms
Tracking symptoms manually in an app can become annoying and intermittent because – life. Peri is a wearable device that tracks and helps you manage your symptoms.
It will track your hot flashes, night sweats, anxiety, and sleeping problems. It will also monitor your activity levels and lifestyle to see how they relate to your symptoms. You can bring this health information to your healthcare provider to help you adjust your medication. Peri will be released in the US in 2025.
Tech to measure hormones during the perimenopause storm
Hormones can be measured in blood, saliva, and urine. However, a single measurement of hormones on just one specific day won’t provide a clear overview or direction as to what your body is experiencing.
Femtech brands are working to change this, and there’s a movement towards continuous hormonal measuring. That means tracking the hormones every day of your cycle. At the moment, this is possible, but prohibitively expensive. And not all hormone tests are made equal.
What hormones you measure makes a difference
Clear Blue, most famous for pregnancy tests, has released a menopause stage indicator test. Like with the pregnancy tests, you pee on a stick on five different days, and it will tell you what stage towards menopause you’re at. Nonetheless, Clear Blue has come under a lot of criticism. It measures the hormone FHS, which isn’t a reliable hormone to test for perimenopause.
In the US, there are at-home tests with AI-driven apps to help you measure more than one hormone. With Oova you test three hormones in your urine over 15 days. If you want to measure your hormones across your full cycle, you can double up on the test kit. You scan the test strips with their app and get the results.
Thorne also has a Menopause test where you send off your saliva to measure 3 hormones. You get the results in an app. Everlywell has a similar test but through a finger prick test.
Hormone testing options in Europe and beyond
In the UK, you can do a finger prick test at two different times in your cycle through Forth.
In Europe, you can get a couple of urine tests to measure your hormones. Through Proove you measure them four times in your cycle and get the results directly in the app. Mira offers a lab-quality test kit that shows you your results in their app.
Similarly, Hormony, soon to be released, measures your hormone levels in your saliva. You’ll be able to get the results directly in an AI-driven app to track and monitor your hormones. If you need more support, you’ll also be able to connect with the Hormony community and specialists.
Most of these apps and tests include a personalised health plan and support. If you’re on hormonal birth control, it will affect your results, and not all tests are suitable for you. So check the small print before you order a hormone testing kit.
A less tech-based alternative is to get personalised support and testing from perimenopause experts like Willbe. Using not only hormone tests but also wearable data and DNA tests, Willbe helps you balance your hormones and increase your quality of life.
Rings to track your health vitals
If you don’t want to wear huge and bulky tech to measure your vitals, you’re not alone. Wearable rings have become popular because they are discreet.
TechTruster has already reviewed the Evie ring, which was recently relaunched. With the new Evie ring, you can track your menstrual cycle and monitor sleep, activity, temperature, and heart rate.
TechTruster has also written about the 3rd Gen Oura Ring. Oura ring has now released a new and improved ring. You can connect it with many period tracking apps like Clue and Flo but also Natural Cycles, the first FDA-approved birth control app.
Both Evie and Oura have focused on women’s health and are now expanding from fertility to perimenopause.
Wearable tech jewellery to track perimenopause symptoms
It’s not only Oura and Evie that have created rings. Danish students have created wearable jewellery to tackle various perimenopause symptoms. One of them is a ring to alleviate brain fog, a common symptom in mid-age. They’ve also developed earrings which detect when you can expect a hot flash, and help you breathe through them.
Tech to cool hot flashes in perimenopause
Another symptom of perimenopause, and perhaps the most stereotypical one, is hot flashes. Before any treatment kicks in, you might want immediate relief from the sudden heat (or cold). Most of these brands are based in the US, but some ship to Europe as well.
Wristbands & bracelets for temperate control
One of the devices that ship to Europe and the UK is the Embr Labs wristband. It cools or heats your wrist in waves, helping you to control your body temperature. In a similar fashion, Thermaband is available for pre-order in the US.
Cooling pods & pads when you need it most
Hot flashes can be very disruptive to sleep. The US-based Amira Care has developed an automatic cooling pad to help you sleep through your hot flashes. A wristband detects when you’re about to have a hot flash and sends a signal to the pad to cool you down.
Cooling devices available in Europe are Menopod and Hera by Athana. These are handheld cooling devices that you place on a heat-sensitive area such as your wrist or neck. They give you a cooling sensation like an ice pack and cool you down.
Perimenopause specific (tech)clothes
Fabric can also be high-tech. Femography has developed a fabric that’s friendly towards temperature control issues. They work with clothes brands to provide you with activity and everyday clothes, sleepwear, and underwear. The fabric keeps you cool and dry.
Pelvic care tech to stop leaks in perimenopause
It’s not only pregnant and post-birth people who might have problems with leaks. Leakage is a common symptom of perimenopause. There are devices and apps to strengthen the pelvic floor for post-partum women. They also work for mid-life women.
Elitone in the US provides an external solution to train your pelvic floor. The British Elvie has a kegel trainer that connects with an app to help you improve your bladder control. There’s also apps like Tät. It focuses on pelvic floor exercises without any tools to help you train your pelvic floor.
Tech to support intimacy during menopause
And finally, Perimenopause can bring physical and emotional challenges to your sex life. A lower sex drive and vaginal dryness are just a couple of possible symptoms that can affect your relationship. The US-based Tabu and Joylux sell tools to support your intimate life.
Out-of-pocket expenses or claimable on health insurance?
Perimenopause has a huge influence on women’s lives, but that is not reflected in the health coverage. Some of the platforms and HRT prescriptions in the US are claimable on health insurance. In Europe, your HRT prescription should be covered if you go via your doctor. For everything else you have to pay yourself.
Femtech brands are working hard at finding solutions and breaking down the stigma. So even if Menopause Awareness Day is just one day, we at TechTruster want to contribute to spreading awareness every day.
With thanks to Femovate who provided TechTruster with some of the companies listed. We have no association with any of the companies mentioned in this article.