Digital Wellness Tools for Arthritis 

By Mary Anne Dunkin

When something goes wrong with your car, you can check the owner’s manual to find out what it might be. But when something seems wrong in your body, you have no owner’s manual to turn to. That’s why internist and pain specialist Jacob Teitelbaum, MD, decided to create one. His creation, a smartphone app called Cures A-Z, can help identify common causes of certain symptoms and what to do for them. It is one of a growing number of digital tools designed to promote wellness and complement the care you receive from your doctor.

Various tools help you rate and describe your pain, track your symptoms and gauge arthritis severity, or store medical test results. Sharing them with your doctor may help her better assess your response to treatment or understand how arthritis affects you day to day. Most apps and other digital tools offer a basic version for free and a premium version for a small fee. Here are some apps and mobile-friendly wellness tools worth checking out.

1. YES (Your Exercise Solution) Tool, created by the Arthritis Foundation, gives you customized exercise modifications based on your arthritis pain, fitness level and favorite activities to help you improve your fitness while preventing potential injury. Get online and mobile versions at arthritis.org/yourexercisesolution.
2. Sleep Score measures breathing rate and body movement to analyze your sleep. It provides personalized advice and recommendations for improving sleep as well as charts that track your progress over time. It’s available in Apple’s App Store and Google Play.
3. Headspace offers a 10-day beginner’s course to help guide you through the essentials of meditation and mindfulness in just a few minutes a day. It’s available in Apple’s App Store and Google Play.
4. Daily Yoga provides step-by-step instructions for more than 500 yoga poses and more than 200 yoga, Pilates and meditation classes for any level. It’s available in Apple’s App Store and Google Play.