Forget smart watches. Oura Rings are all the rage online, praised for their fashionable, 24-hour, accurate health-tracking features. But can they sense life-threatening emergencies?
What is an Oura Ring?
This handy dandy device is a smart ring that measures a person’s sleep, activity, recovery, heart rate, and health using sensors that capture pulse signals, according to their website. The longer the user wears the device, the more it adapts to their body signals. From there, the ring will generate daily reports through the app.
How did this woman’s Oura Ring warn her of sepsis?
Oklahoma-based TikTok creator Shayla (@shaylatalei) lies in a hospital bed. “If you’re ever thinking about getting an Oura Ring, I’m in the hospital for Sepsis,” she says, pointing at the smart ring on her index finger. “This thing told me that my body was struggling days before I was in the hospital.”
As proof, the corner of her screen shows her Oura Ring report, saying that her body was exhibiting ‘major signs of strain.’ Initially, she dismissed the symptoms as other conditions.
“I was gaslighting myself into thinking, ‘I’m chronically ill. I’m tired. I did too much,’” she recalls. “No, this thing told me I was having major signs of high resting heart rate while I was asleep and high body temperature.”
Because of its accuracy, she recommends it. “I just think that it’s so freaking cool. I think it’s worth the money,” she says. “I’ve had this since the beginning of the year but I also had the second one before I got chronically ill and wore it literally until it didn’t fit anymore.”
When Shayla doubted her body’s symptoms, she says the ring proved otherwise. “It was literally giving me proof that my body was struggling when I wasn’t trusting it,” she says.
What did viewers say?
The video amassed a whopping 8.1 million views. Like Shayla, many shared stories of how their Oura Rings alerted them to medical emergencies before they were even aware of them.
“Mine flagged it two days before I had ovarian cysts burst!” one viewer commented.
“My Oura ring had major signs and it turned out to be mastitis!” another shared.
“My ring knew I had a kidney infection before I knew. I had no symptoms at all until it was bad,” a third recalled.
Since these smart rings require subscriptions, others shared their effective alternatives.
“Ultrahuman ring does the same with no subscription! Highly recommend it,” one commenter proposed.
“RingConn does the same with no subscription and 12 day battery life,” a second said.
How does the device detect illnesses?
Last year, the company launched a new feature, Symptom Radar, after four years of development. The device monitors the user’s biometrics for deviations. For seven nights, it will track the user’s sleep data for one of the following: No signs, Minor signs, or Major signs of strain. If the ring senses any changes, it will alert them the following morning and recommend pausing their activity in ‘Rest Mode.’ However, this feature is not completely foolproof.
“Symptom Radar looks for early signs of common respiratory illnesses—like a cold or the flu—based on changes in your biometric data. While it’s designed to give you a heads-up before symptoms appear, it’s not always perfect. You may receive a warning even if you feel fine or feel unwell without seeing a warning,” per Oura’s website.
For the best results, the ring should be worn on the index, middle, or ring finger.
@shaylatalei My oura ring knew I was sick when I wasn’t trusting my body. I think it is such a neat invention ? @ouraring #ouraring #sepsis #hospital #fypツ #hospitalstay ♬ original sound – Shayla ✿
The Mary Sue reached out to Shayla via email and TikTok comment as well as Oura via press email.
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