An ovulation test works by testing your most fertile time of the month in order to aid the chances of you falling pregnant. Testing your ovulation is easy and by helping to identify when your ovulation will take place will allow you to plan the best time in your cycle to try to fall pregnant, instead of more traditional methods such basal body temperature charting which can only confirm that ovulation has already taken place.
In order to efficiently test your ovulation you must make sure you are doing it on the correct day of the month and the best time of day, this is usually between the hours of 11:00 to 15:00 and between 17:00 and 23:00. It may be beneficial to test within both these time periods in order to ensure accuracy, it is also important to keep your pattern consistent therefore always test at the same time of the day.
There are two types of ovulation kits, a urine based ovulation kit or a saliva based ovulation kit. To use the urine based ovulation kit this will detect when there is a rapid surge in Luteinizing Hormone (LH) when you are at the peak of your fertile cycle this can be an increase of two to five times more LH in your urine. This hormone identifies that you are one or two days away from your most fertile part of your cycle and between 12 to 36 hours from the LH surge to the egg being released is the most likely time where conception will occur.
To use the urine ovulation kit you may have to urinate into a cup or onto a detection stick. This procedure is pain free and will quickly determine if the LH surge has occurred. Allow a 10 minute window for the results to be efficiently processed.
A saliva based ovulation kit will detect a rise in oestrogen levels as your approach the time of ovulation. The saliva kit acts as a personal microscope which allows you to detect “salivary ferning” which is the crystallisation of salt in your saliva, helping you to determine when you are most fertile.
To use the saliva based ovulation kit can be much easier, by licking the stick provided you will be able test whether the saliva is 'ferning' as mentioned previously. Do not eat or drink before undergoing the test and it is recommend that it is done first thing in the morning. The test stick cannot contain any air bubbles and should be analysed under a microscope to allow you to know that you are within the fertile stage of your cycle.
Urine tests are more efficient and are higher in accuracy than saliva tests. There has been speculation over whether a saliva test can detect ‘ferning’ at the incorrect stage, however, do keep in mind neither test is identified as 100% accurate. The kits are designed to help you keep track of when you are at your most fertile and compared to other methods used will allow you to foresee your ovulation rather than highlight it when it is in the past; an ideal combination for those trying to fall pregnant.