Taking control of your health requires daily management, and it’s not always easy to do on your own. Sometimes help comes in the form of a gym buddy, but recently we’ve seen a rise in the number of people who wear a fitness tracker to help them track their activity, which is a great start towards a healthy lifestyle. That’s because people who wear some sort of fitness tracker tend to exercise more regularly and they are more accurate in reporting the time and amount of exercise. In the end, it all comes down to holding ourselves responsible for our health, but if these devices can help you stick to a schedule, it seems well worth the investment.

The boom in activity trackers hopefully will lead to higher rates of compliance with fitness. For my patients with pain, those who have included the use of a fitness tracker to monitor activity have been more consistent in exercise. They have also tended to be more motivated in performing an exercise routine, use less medication and have better control of symptoms.

One of the most important actions necessary to control pain is exercise. One needs to perform muscle strengthening and aerobic conditioning on a regular basis to control symptoms. Working with a physical therapist to learn how to perform the correct exercise is a good start, and after learning how to exercise appropriately, consistently being active is critical. The use of an activity tracker can significantly help a person stay the course of appropriate exercise.

The cost of a good fitness tracker runs about $100. As medicine goes, this is a relatively cheap investment into your own health. If pain is a factor in your health, get a fitness tracker, use it and get active.