Ovulation test strips, as the name suggests, are a type of test strip used to determine ovulation. Many women are actually unaware that ovulation test strips can also be used to test pregnancy. Nowadays, many women are using ovulation test strips to test pregnancy, and ovulation test strips can detect pregnancy earlier than early pregnancy test strips, but the accuracy is not completely reliable. So how do ovulation test strips determine pregnancy?
1、 The specific method of using ovulation test strips to test pregnancy
(1) Collect urine in a clean and dry container, and do not use morning urine. The best time to collect urine is from 10am to 8pm, and try to use urine samples from the same time every day. Reduce water intake 2 hours before collecting urine, as diluted urine samples can hinder the detection of LH peak.
(2) Dip one end of the test strip marked with an arrow into the urine, take it out and lay it flat for about three seconds, observe the results for 10-20 minutes, and the results should be read within 30 minutes for accuracy!
(3) The depth of inserting the test paper into the urine should not exceed the MAX marking line.
2、 What is the principle of using ovulation test strips to test pregnancy
HCG has two chains, alpha and beta, with the alpha chain having a structure similar to LH and FSH, making it prone to cross reactivity. Therefore, in medicine, beta is generally used as the standard for determining pregnancy. Because HCG and LH intersect, sometimes ovulation test strips can also respond to early pregnancy. So, before the early pregnancy test strip, the ovulation test strip had already detected early pregnancy.
3、 Why is it said that early pregnancy test strips are not as good as ovulation test strips
Because most early pregnancy test strips nowadays test for beta HCG, and the beta content in HCG is much lower than alpha. When beta HCG is only 50-100, alpha HCG often reaches around one or two thousand. Early pregnancy test strips are determined by β HCG, and cross reactivity is determined by α HCG, so ovulation test strips may be positive earlier than early pregnancy test strips.
4、 Ovulation test strips to determine if pregnancy is accurate
This testing method is not entirely reliable, as misdiagnosis may occur due to inaccurate values during the testing process. The absence of a weak positive on ovulation test strips does not mean that you are not pregnant, as cross reactivity is not inevitable. A positive ovulation test does not necessarily indicate pregnancy, as it may be due to incomplete withdrawal of LH or a cross reaction with FSH. Moreover, even if it is indeed a cross reaction of alpha HCG, it does not necessarily indicate pregnancy. If α HCG is present and β HCG does not keep up, it is meaningless.
Through the introduction of this article, it can be known that ovulation test strips can actually detect whether a woman is pregnant or not earlier than early pregnancy test strips, but there are certain accuracy issues. If you want to use ovulation test strips to test pregnancy, it is best to follow the method described in this article.
