Transform Your Wellness: The Benefits of the Oura Ring

Introduction

For most of my adolescent and adult life I was on the trends with the latest wearables for health monitoring. From the original Fitbit bracelets to having an Apple Watch for almost 10 years now, I have long been a fan of tracking my steps and my workouts for exercise purposes as well as having the world at my wrist with the Apple Watch. But as I grow and realize how many more health metrics are valuable for overall health than just exercise, I turn to the Oura ring. 

Many Oura users are those with interests in longevity and sleep metrics for a picture of holistic wellbeing rather than just physical fitness. Those with chronic illnesses also find Oura to be useful in tracking bodily strain and anticipating flare ups before they strike in full force. 

I was diagnosed with Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis in October 2024, just before my 23rd birthday in November. Battling chronic fatigue and always feeling like a pile of hot trash, I figured something to track my sleep quality and recovery metrics could be useful. 

Unsurprisingly, I am a very data driven person, I like to see the numbers and how and why things work. I had begun to see people in the health influencing sphere wearing them and commenting on how they loved it but I wanted a more candid review. 

So naturally I took a deep dive into the people’s forum, Reddit. 

Of course, I got a variety of perspectives, those who said it was a waste of time and money, and those who swear by the HRV (heart rate variability) tracking for monitoring themselves. 

The cost of the newest model, the 4th Generation ring, starts at $350 and there is a monthly subscription fee of $5.99 for the app features. (Which is mandatory to get any kind of analysis and data collection FYI.)

People frequently point to the price tag as a downside, but there is yet to be any affordable health technology with decently sophisticated monitoring. 

The biggest claim from the Oura producers revolves around their sleep and stress monitoring capabilities. Given that I consider myself to be rather highly stressed and have poor sleep quality, I decided after thorough research that this was a worthy investment for my health. 

Thank you to my parents who purchased the ring for me as a 23rd birthday gift! I am so lucky to have their support in my health journey with the costly price tag of supplements, lab testing, and doctors appointments. 

The Basics

In case you are unfamiliar with the kind of metrics the Oura ring measures, let me provide some initial explanation. Each day the Oura app provides you with many “scores” which are cumulative analyses of different aspects of wellness taken from the previous day’s activity and sleep. 

The Oura ring incorporates advanced sensor technology to gather comprehensive health data.

It uses infrared LEDs to measure pulse and heart rate variability, and a Negative Temperature Coefficient (NTC) sensor to track body temperature. An NTC sensor is a type of temperature sensor that changes its electrical resistance based on temperature fluctuations. This allows the ring to accurately monitor your basal body temperature, which is essential for analyzing sleep patterns and detecting subtle changes in your health

The Readiness Score

The readiness score is the most cumulative measurement that the ring takes. If you only look at one of their metrics a day, the pattern of readiness scores would be the most indicative of overall wellness. It is calculated from measurements collected during your sleep but also takes into account the amount of stress and recovery someone experiences the day prior. 

The overall score comes from analysis of the following individual measurements: 

• Resting heart rate
• HRV balance
• Body temperature
• Recovery index
• Sleep balance
• Sleep regularity
• Previous day activity
• Activity balance

It is surely a sophisticated algorithm and it seems to be pretty accurate to the way I feel I am able to proceed about my day. If I don’t get enough deep sleep, my readiness declines, the same goes for my HRV. If my body temperature increases for a prolonged period, my readiness declines, and I am alerted that something could be straining my physiology. 

Sure enough, in early February I woke up feeling a cold coming on. Listening to my body and my data, I stayed in bed all day ensuring I gave my body the proper tools it needed to recover. The next day I had been alerted to major signs of strain on my body, including low HRV, elevated basal body temperature and elevated resting heart rate. 

I went back to work the next day, pushing through the fogginess led me to take the following day off. I had pushed myself, but not to the breaking point. Seeing the data in front of me allowed me to justify honoring my body in the break it needed to recover. 

Seeing how the body bounces back from strain and illness is something that fascinates me. With my ring I see it firsthand and compare data with experiences. When my scores dip, I can feel and understand the correlation. 

Another interesting feature is the “tags”. You can add different tags to your day as you experience different things. For example, when I tag alcohol consumption, I can correlate a decrease in deep sleep. Different tags allow you to track your experiences and trends over time. 

I am not an avid user of this feature, but it is certainly interesting to utilize occasionally. 

My Experience as an Oura Ring Consumer

So now I have been an Oura user for 4 months and here are my thoughts.

The ring has a strong understanding of my patterns and gives me what feels like accurate measurements. While I do check my scores every morning, I only take conscious notice when my readiness is especially low. The positive reinforcement of a good sleep and or readiness score after a night of prioritizing my wind down routine is certainly working. 

There is a cycle tracking feature that uses your basal and waking body temperature to determine the menstrual cycle ovulation and period windows. I have found that my temperature always seems to drop to baseline or lower on the day that my period starts and tends to be higher on the days leading up to my period. 

Monitoring my stress levels has also been something I was anticipating enjoying, and I was right. I find that my physical stress levels during the day tend to fluctuate, peaking in the middle of the day, but also making me more conscious of trying to lower myself to a restorative state by bedtime. 

These are just some of the highlights I’ve noticed in my short time with Oura. I enjoy watching how my body recovers from stress, HRV scores increase, and sleep quality improves. But I have mostly become more self aware of my body and interoceptive of the sensations that lead me towards restoration or exhaustion. It aids me in deciding how much effort I need to take to care for my body throughout the day and at different points of my cycle. 

As I work towards healing, being kind to my body and listening to what it tells me is extremely valuable. The data from my Oura ring aids me in visualizing my needs more closely and has certainly helped me recover from sickness and times of physiological  stress. 

I continue to enjoy checking my Oura App each day, seeing how my scores fluctuate due to my lifestyle and making needed adjustments. I believe the ring has been a valuable tool to have in my analysis and I would recommend it to those interested in monitoring themselves. By no means is it a keystone to health. It is simply a tool, a fun one if you enjoy tracking data on yourself!

Disclaimer: Please note that I am sharing my personal experiences with the Oura ring and am not a medical professional. The Oura ring is a consumer wearable device and is not intended to diagnose, treat, or prevent any medical conditions. The information provided in this blog post should not be considered medical advice. Always consult with a qualified healthcare provider for any health concerns or before making any decisions related to your health or treatment.