THE FERTILITY TESTS THAT WE CAN FIND IN THE PHARMACY
It is common in many couples that without reaching what is considered infertility (more than a year trying without success) they have been wanting to be parents for several months. Before deciding to go to the doctor or even during the process from when you ask for a consultation until the day of the appointment arrives, this is the moment when most doubts arise: Will I be fertile? Am I doing something wrong? Is there something I can start doing?
This post is once again aimed at making you aware of options, so that you know what you can do from home to get what you want , this is what lifestyles are about, as Eduardo Galeano said, after all, we are the What do we do to change who we are?
We are going to see below those tests that we can acquire at the pharmacy, the so-called self-tests. Self-tests are those tests that are done from home that are easy to use and that give us a lot of information.
THE OVULATION TEST
The ovulation test is one of the most complicated self-tests, since the month before using it we must start collecting information about our cycle.
Knowing the length of our cycle is very interesting and not only if you want to conceive, it also gives us many clues about our health, shorter or longer cycles are a consequence of hormonal disorders that may require medical attention, so my advice is that we all write down the first day of period.
The cycle is totally unique and personal, we may have heard countless times that it lasts 28 days and ovulation occurs on the 14th day, although this is only an approximation. We each have our own and we also know the symptoms that tell us that we are at one time or another. During our cycle, hormones increase and decrease and these hormones are involved in many processes that is why there are several parameters that change: our flow, our temperature, our body and also our mood.
Our cycle begins on the first day of the period and ends the day before the next period. Cycles usually last between 26 and 35 days and more or less between day 12 and 16 is when ovulation occurs, when the egg travels through the fallopian tubes to the uterus and waits to be fertilized. Knowing when ovulation occurs is important because despite the fact that the sperm can live up to five days from the time it comes out, our ovules barely a day.
Ovulation occurs through the increase of a hormone called LH, which gives the warning for the egg to detach. The LH increases and the next day or so we have the egg ready for the arrival of the sperm. The ovulation test is based on the detection of this hormone, LH. This way we can detect the two most fertile days of our cycle. To do this, in the ovulation tests we find numerous rods, so that we have several attempts before finding the day on which the LH increases. Although we don’t have enough to do it every day. For this reason, it is necessary to know our cycle beforehand, because each manufacturer and depending on the rods available to the test will not say that we start one day or another with the tests. The test is done with urine, it is very similar to a pregnancy test and it is preferable to do it with the first urination of the morning, because it is more concentrated urine. When choosing a brand, it is important to know the accuracy of the test, always prioritizing the most accurate, there are up to 99%. As for the result, the day you test positive and the day after will be your most fertile days.
In the event that you had done the test perfectly and none of the rods had come out positive (increase in LH), it is important that you know that there are women who do not ovulate every cycle, however, if this were repeated one more month you should go to the doctor.
THE MALE FERTILITY TEST
In approximately half of the couples who go to an assisted reproduction clinic because they cannot get pregnant, the problem of infertility is the man’s and in most cases as a consequence of poor seminal quality.
Male fertility self – tests are focused on determining sperm concentration.
Sperm concentration is one of the parameters used to determine seminal quality, although there are many others: volume, motility, viscosity, among others…
To be considered normal seminal quality, the sperm concentration must be at least 20 million per milliliter of semen (it can reach 150 million).
The test is carried out with an ejaculation waiting at least 48 hours from the last one.
Although the male fertility self-test can be accurate (there are some with an accuracy greater than 95%), we must bear in mind that although it gives us the correct concentration of sperm, sperm quality has many other aspects, as I mentioned in the previous paragraph. If, on the contrary, it gave us a sperm concentration below the normal value and being sure that we have followed all the steps perfectly, it would be necessary to turn to professionals to do the pertinent tests and assess options.
