REVIEW: FIRST WEEK--Therapist's Review of How Oura Ring Can Impact Women's Overall Health, Sleep, and Cycle

If you missed my first blog on my first impressions and 24 hours with the Oura Gen 3 Ring, check it out here! I go into detail about how the ring works and what it's touted as being able to help with.

First Week Impressions

The lightness I had spoken as a first impression turned out to be an asset. It doesn't weigh me down or feel difficult to wear, the only note I will make is that it takes some getting used to as someone who is only used to a thin wedding band; a feature I believe has been altered with the newest model.

It's surprising comfortable and the only time I found it uncomfortable was when I was sleeping and it shifted on my finger causing the sensors to dig into the wrong side of my finger. The particular model has three small sensors on the side for help detect all of the metrics. Despite it looking rigid, it does not restrict movement in my hands at all, including running, pulls ups, weights and push ups. I addmittedtly was concerned it would damage the ring, but no concerns so far!

Ignore the nails, they need to get filled!

Key Features and Functionality

Sleep Tracking: I've tracked my sleep periodically with an old apple watch, and an even older Fitbit so I've at least seen a general idea of how I sleep. The light, REM and Deep sleep all line ip with what I've seen in the past but the sleep function has the added bonus of 'latency' which shows how long it takes to fall asleep while in bed. It nice to get an idea of exactly how long that is, vs how long I'm sleep. In addition it has the Body Temperature function which seems to be pretty accurate and lines up with Hot Flashes/Night Sweats. This feature in particular is something I'm hoping is going to be helpful in with perimenopausal symptoms. Many women start to develop perimenopasal symptoms as early as early 30's but are often dismissed as being 'too young' or if they get the hormone testing if it's not done at the right time, or regularly it may not show the whole picture. Something that I think will be very helpful for women.

Activity Monitoring: I am coming to love the activity tracking function. It is exceptionally good at noting when I'm walking, vs doing housework vs running etc. I haven't tried anything to odd like SkiErg, or Rowing but that's next to try! I do think I will have to EDIT the Active Calories Burned as just doing normal housework a couple times a day is enough to close it and I would to have it be a stretch to complete.

Health/Stress Metrics: This I just started to be able to see (as it's been a week!) The Daytime Stress is interesting and says it tracking a number of metrics including movement, HR and HRV to calculate this. I haven't had a tremendous amount of stress (or panic attacks thank goodness) but will definitely keep an eye to see how accurate it.

I did notice that on day that I wasn't feeling particularly well, it alerted me in the morning that my temperature shifted almost an entire degree. I regret not taking a screen shot of what it looked but will if it happens again.

I'm trying to utilize this ring to fullest so I've signed up for several studies to try and monitor how it works and will keep this blog updated as a result.

Daily Usage Experience

Data Accuracy: So good so far, but will continue to see how the accuracy changes or shift.s

App Interface: Still very user friendly, I'm still trying to figure out the best way to go back and look at a different day. It seems that it depends of what metric I'm looking at, so I'm not able (so far) to figure out how to see an entire past day.

Battery Life: Definitely not 7 days, probably closer to 4 or 5 and if I'm more active it seems to drain it quicker but still a significant improvement to my old Apple watch that couldn't make it from dawn to dusk.

Impact on Lifestyle:

Sleep Habits: I've found that seeing how much my temperature increases in the night, I've started to sleep with the fan on. In retrospect this seems an obvious thing to do if warm, but I didn't realize the extent to which my tempt would rise.

Activity Levels: It very helpfully tells me what type of activity would require to complete my Active Rings.

Overall Well-being: It is very intriguing to have all of this information, I still think I'm in the information gathering stage to see what my baseline looks like before making any huge changes. The readiness score has definitely given me thought on how to rest my body before any big runs and we'll see how it continues to help.

Disclaimer: This blog post is based on my personal experience with the Oura Ring Gen 3. It is not sponsored, endorsed, or affiliated with Oura in any way. All opinions shared are my own, and this review is intended for informational purposes only. Please do your own research and consult with a healthcare professional before making any decisions regarding your health and wellness tools.