Is it perimenopause ... or something else? A new wearable is helping women demystify symptoms like hot flashes and brain fog.

Yahoo

a day ago

Many women say they don't feel informed at all about this stage of life.
Why is it suddenly harder to find the right word or remember the name of the restaurant you used to go to? When did sleeping through the night become such a rarity? And what's up with that shoulder pain that came out of nowhere? Welcome to perimenopause — the transition period that kicks off years before you officially reach menopause. While hot flashes and night sweats steal most of the spotlight, there are many subtler and seemingly random symptoms that can crop up (itchy ears, anyone?). It can leave women feeling blindsided and lost, like they're navigating an ever-shifting landscape without a compass or a map.
A 2022 survey of nearly 950 perimenopausal women in the U.K. found that more than 60% said they didn't feel informed at all about this stage of life. Other than hot flashes, 'most of the women were entirely unaware of the wide array of symptoms and so did not connect them to the perimenopause,' according to the study authors.
A more recent survey of nearly 4,500 American women revealed that more than 55% of those ages 30 to 35 had symptoms that could be classified as 'moderate' or 'severe' on the Menopause Rating Scale (MRS), a common questionnaire that measures the intensity of menopause symptoms. That increased to more than 64% in women ages 36 to 40. But the researchers behind the survey found that most women don't talk to a health care professional about their symptoms until they reach their mid-50s. Many just muscle through an uncomfortable array of symptoms.
A lot of it comes down to the fact that almost no one is taught about perimenopause and menopause (and most doctors aren't adequately trained in it), so they may not know what signs to look out for and how to best manage symptoms. Technology is stepping in to fill the gap. The latest: a wearable device that's specifically designed to help women track perimenopause symptoms and figure things out sooner. It's called Peri by identifyHer, and it's a first-of-its-kind tool to help midlife women be better informed about this stage of life and their health. Here's what's behind this innovative technology, plus what menopause experts think.
The problem: Figuring out whether you're in perimenopause is like playing a guessing game — but with your health. And managing symptoms can be difficult if you don't know where to start.
By the numbers: A 2021 survey found that 44% of women were unaware of perimenopause until they started experiencing symptoms, while 46% were not expecting perimenopause when it started. A more recent survey by Ohio State Wexner Medical Center revealed that more than 60% of women believe they will reach menopause in their 40s. However, perimenopausal symptoms can start as early as your 30s, while the average age of menopause is 51, which can catch some women off guard.
The solution: Peri by identifyHer is a wearable device with a corresponding app that's designed for women in perimenopause. It was a 2025 CES Innovation Awards Honoree and is relatively simple to use.
The tool has an adhesive that sticks to your torso and collects data on everything from hot flashes and night sweats to sleep, anxiety and brain fog, sending that information to the app. It also gives personalized feedback on how to manage your specific symptoms.
Chief executive officer and cofounder Heidi Davis tells Yahoo that the device was designed with the goal of supporting women. 'There's a critical lack of support and objective data when it comes to perimenopause — a stage that affects nearly every woman yet is still poorly understood,' she says. 'Beyond helping women in the moment, Peri aims to help close the gender data gap by gathering women-specific health data. Perimenopausal symptoms can be an early signal for future health outcomes, and understanding them better is key to keeping women healthier and more productive for longer.'
Peri continuously monitors perimenopausal symptoms over time to analyze patterns and provide advice on next steps for women. 'These include tailored feedback on lifestyle around diet and exercise, feedback on hormone replacement therapy if applicable and tracking of symptoms across the cycle — helping women identify underlying causes of things like sleep disruption, e.g., is it night sweats? Anxiety?' Davis says. 'It also helps prompt more informed conversations with health care providers by offering a clear picture of what's going on.' Meaning, you can take the app's findings to your doctor to go over what you're experiencing in detail.
Doctors who treat women in perimenopause and menopause say these details can be helpful. 'Digitalized health is one of the best ways to implement health care and to truly understand a patient's progression, recovery and journey through certain medical conditions,' women's health expert Dr. Jessica Shepherd, an ob-gyn in Dallas and author of the book Generation M: Living Well in Perimenopause and Menopause, tells Yahoo. 'The hormonal shifts seen in perimenopause and menopause are able to be tracked with a device such as this, which is valuable, especially since the journey of this transition is very hard to contextualize to a group of women.'
Dr. Lauren Streicher, a clinical professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, tells Yahoo that a device like this can help women identify symptoms they may not realize are from perimenopause and share them with their health care provider. 'Women are not aware of all of their hot flashes,' she says, pointing out that these can happen overnight when women are sleeping. 'There is value in knowing how many hot flashes you're actually having and whether whatever you're doing to try to make them go away is working,' Streicher says.
That actually matters more than just knowing your health stats. 'There is a correlation between the severity of symptoms in perimenopause, such as hot flashes and night sweats, that can have a direct link to future health implications, such as heart disease, neurodegenerative diseases and overall quality of life,' Shepherd says. 'There is data that shows the increased severity of either hot flashes or night sweats was associated with a higher risk of cardiovascular disease.'
While some experts say the wearable device is useful, Dr. Mary Jane Minkin, a clinical professor of obstetrics and gynecology and reproductive sciences at Yale School of Medicine and founder of Madame Ovary, says you don't need it to help you navigate perimenopause comfortably. 'As a general rule, things that are helpful for perimenopausal symptoms are also very good for medical health in general: getting lots of exercise (both aerobic and strength training) and eating a healthy diet — some varieties of a Mediterranean diet are good for most women,' Minkin tells Yahoo. 'Stopping smoking and avoiding excess alcohol — I discourage women from drinking more than one drink a day — are also good to minimize perimenopausal symptoms.'
Minkin says it's also crucial to find a health care provider who understands perimenopause. (She recommends focusing on providers who are members of the Menopause Society and Menopause Society-certified practitioners.)
Davis says she hopes her tool can help women make sense of what's happening to their bodies at this stage of life. 'Symptoms [of perimenopause] are often dismissed or misattributed, and women are left to manage on their own,' she says. 'There's a massive opportunity to bring clarity, support and personalization to this experience.'
Preorders for Peri open in September 2025, and the first devices will ship in October.