It’s that magical time of year again, iPhone Lifers. The general malaise and misery of allergy season is upon us. But if you can see through those itchy, watery eyes long enough to read the screen, I’ve found a few apps that might help you keep on top of your allergies. Perhaps you can enjoy the life this summer instead of dreading every time you have to step outside into Pollenpallooza.
1. Zyrtec Allergycast (FREE)
Here’s a great way to plan your day ahead of time. With this app, you can check the pollen index and weather forecast so you can start off in the morning knowing what to expect out there. It’s even got a symptom tracker so that you can identify and track your symptoms for each day. Just log your symptoms and how you feel and you’ll be able to tell what type of pollen bothers you most and get tips on how to deal with it.
2. WebMD Allergy (FREE)
WebMD is everyone’s favorite go-to when they feel sick, so it makes sense it has an app that helps you understand your allergies. And this one covers everything—not just outdoor allergies. It also has doctor-approved tips for dealing with indoor/year-round allergies plus food, skin, drug, insect, and latex allergies too.
The app is customizable to you and your family’s specific allergies, so you can track only the stuff that bothers you and your loved ones and be prepared for each day with your personalized allergy weather forecast. You also can track how you feel and record your symptoms and treatments so that when you have a doctor’s appointment, you can print a report to share at your office visit.
What I love about WebMD Allergy (in addition to all of the above) is that it allows you to read through a huge library of articles, slideshows, and videos so that if you have any questions, you can find an answer quickly and easily.
3. Pollen.com's Allergy Alert (FREE)
If anyone should know all about allergies, it’s Pollen.com! It is on a mission to keep us allergy sufferers in good shape with its app that tracks the pollen forecast for us plus other environmental factors like asthma, ultraviolet, cold, and cough. The design is clean and friendly with an intuitive user interface. Although it doesn’t have as many bells and whistles as the other apps I’ve reviewed here, it’s simplicity may be appealing to you if all you want to do is find out what the pollen will be like on a given day in the near future.
4. RxmindMe Prescription (FREE)
If one of your biggest problems is forgetting to take your allergy medicine, this app is perfect for you. It may be even better than forecast apps, because it reminds you when need to keep up with your meds! Anyone who suffers from allergies knows you can’t let it get ahead of you and that you need to maintain your medicine schedule.
But this app isn’t just for people with allergies! It can handle as many as nine different types of medication reminders—it can remind you every X number of days, or send you hourly, daily, or weekly reminders too. You can even record medicine you take on an as-needed basis.
This app is a great way to track what you’re taking, how often, and how much so that you don't have to remember when you’re at the doctor. You can even take a picture of your prescription bottle or email your prescription history in an Excel or Numbers document. They’ve thought of everything with this app, and it’s no wonder it gets such excellent reviews.
I hope you find something here that helps you out this season... Anybody got a tissue?