Ovulation Tests: What are They, How to Test for Ovulation, and Know if Your LH Test is Positive

Let’s talk about ovulation tests, aka LH tests. We are going to look at what ovulation tests are testing for, what ovulation tests are, how to test for ovulation using LH test strips, and how to know if your LH test is positive or negative.

What Ovulation Tests are Looking For

Ovulation tests are also called LH tests, because they are looking for Luteinizing Hormone, LH for short. To really understand how LH works in the body, I would recommend checking out this post here, but I will give a brief summary below.

Basically, the cycle can be broken up into two phases: the follicular phase, and the luteal phase. The follicular phase takes up the first half of a woman’s cycle, and involves increased levels of follicular activity. The follicular phase is where we see a the hormonal spike in LH.

What happens is that follicular stimulation kicks off when the brain sends the hormone Follicle Stimulating Hormone (FSH) as a signal down to the ovaries. 

This stimulates a certain number of immature eggs residing in the ovary to begin growing. 

One of these eggs, which is inside of a follicle, will become dominant and continue to grow until maturation. This follicle produces estrogen.

As estrogen increases, so does fertility.

When estrogen is at its height, it sends a signal to the brain, which signals the follicle to release the egg from the ovary. That signal is LH. The hormone LH signals for the release of an egg from the ovaries, usually 24-36 hours following the release of LH, though some ovulate sooner, and some ovulate later. You can read a super interesting study about that here.

Thus, LH triggers ovulation.

So, what and ovulation test is testing for is LH, not actual ovulation.

I want to reiterate that again… an ovulation test is not actually an ovulation test, it is an LH test. It is not testing for ovulation, it is testing for the peak levels of the hormone that triggers ovulation.

This is so so important to note, and to not rely on LH strips for birth control. They can shed light onto peak fertility levels, but they do not confirm ovulation.

If you want to learn how to actually confirm the estimated day of ovulation, I can teach you. Check out this page to learn more.

Now that we know what we are actually testing for, let’s look a bit more into what ovulation tests are.

What Exactly is an Ovulation/LH Test?

It’s kind of like a pregnancy test, just read differently, because it it picking up a completely different hormone. While pregnancy tests are picking up the hormone HCG, Ovulation tests are picking up the hormone LH.

I use Pregmate Ovulation Test Strips because they are cheap and simple to use.

Let’s look at how to actually test for LH using an ovulation test.

How to Use Ovulation/LH Test Strips

Here are the basics on how to test:

A few basic guidelines: Test around the same time each day, preferably in the morning.

Do not test with the first urine of the day, because it may be too concentrated.

1. Remove the LH test strip from its packaging directly before testing.
2. Urinate in a cup. You can find small silicone cups that work well for this.
3. Dip the strip up to the max line for 5-10 seconds. Read your specific LH product’s instructions to determine the correct time for your specific Ovulation/LH test.
4. Remove the strip and place on a flat surface.
5. Wait for the instructed time based on the instructions (usually between 3-5 minutes) for colored lines to appear.
6. Continue testing each day until a receiving a positive reading

How to Know if Your Ovulation/LH Test is Positive

An ovulation test strip is different from a pregnancy test because a faint line that is lighter than the control line DOES NOT mean it is a positive result. This would be a negative result because LH is not at its peak levels.

I would also like to note around 25% of women will receive a negative LH result even if their LH levels are sufficient to trigger ovulation. Also, some will experience multiple LH positives throughout the cycle, as in some cases with PCOS. This is another reason why observing other biomarkers for fertility is absolutely key.

Here are the basic guidelines to read your ovulation test strip result:

1. Compare the shade of the color to the control line.
2. Positive LH Surge: If the colored line is of equal intensity or darker than the control line, this is a good indication that the LH surge is occurring.
3. Negative LH Surge: If the colored line is of lesser intensity or lighter than the control line, this is a good indication that the LH surge is not occuring
4. Invalid Result: If no control band appears within 10 minutes, it is invalid.

Using Your Ovulation Test to Plan for or Prevent Pregnancy

Want to learn how to use ovulation tests to plan for or prevent pregnancy? I would love to teach you how! Check out all the different ways that you can learn from me here.

Recap

Ovulation tests are these amazing little strips that test for the LH surge, a predictor of peak fertility and ovulation that should soon follow. Their name can be misleading, as they do not test for ovulation, they test for LH, the hormone that triggers the ovulation.

Ovulation tests can be an amazing tool to maximize both pregnancy prevention and the achievement of pregnancy, and can give good indications into overall hormone health.

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