Faint line on ovulation test - what does it mean?

Many women are confused with how to use ovulation tests. They often think that a faint line is a positive result. If taking a pregnancy test, even a faint line means you are pregnant. However, taking ovulation test is different.

To start with, let me give you a brief description on how ovulation test functions. Ovulation test functions by detecting the reproductive luteinizing hormone (LH). Just before ovulation, a brief, marked increase in the amount of luteinizing hormone occurs. Ovulation test kits detect this sudden LH surge, allowing you to predict, with great accuracy, when you will ovulate. If you need to learn more about ovulation, read here.

Why is there a faint test line on the ovulation test?

The LH hormone is present in your body during the whole cycle. That is why you may have a very faint test line to start, but it should get darker as you get nearer to your ovulation day. The luteinising hormone (LH) gives the ripening egg the final push it needs to fully ripen and be released from the follicle. When your test line gets as dark or darker than the control line, then it means your ovulation will occure in 24-36 hours.

If you have irregular cycles, you may experience a faint test line for a long time before the ovulation actually occurs. I recommend tracking your fertile days to know, when your ovulation usually is and start using the OPK 3 days before expected ovulation. If you are not sure on how to determine your fertile days, there are many sources on the internet.

In order to be pregnant fast, you should also start to excercise, eat healthy, stop smoking, try to relax. There are many things that can affect your fertility and it is good to learn about things that affect fertility. If you are using ovulation test, it should be easy for you to determine your ovulation and become pregnant very quickly. You have to follow instructions of the ovulation test and have sex in 24-36 hours after your positive result.

Remember - faint test line on the ovulation test is not a positive result. You need a dark test line or a line darker than the control line.

What is ovulation test

In order to understand what is an ovulation test, it is necessary to know, what ovulation is. Ovulation is the name of the process that occurs once in each cycle, when hormonal changes make the ovaries to release an egg. This typically occurs 12 – 16 days before the start of a new period. A high level of estrogen just before the ovulation causes a sudden increase in another hormone called LH (luteinizing hormone). The rapid increase in luteinizing hormone releases the egg from the ovary and that is what is called ovulation.

Ovulation test functions by detecting the reproductive luteinizing hormone (LH). A positive result on an ovulation test indicates that you will most likely become fertile over the next 3 days – with peak fertility at 24 to 36 hours after the LH, or positive ovulation test.

Watch this video on how to use ovulation test

How to use an ovulation test

Buy an ovulation test at a pharmacy, grocery store or Web site. I personally buy them from Early Pregnancy Test.com, because they sell them in packs, so it saves me some money. They are fast and discrete with shipping.

Follow the instructions of ovulation test carefully to keep your results accurate. It is recommended not using the first morning urine, but to test sometime between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m. Test at the same time every day. Start testing on day 11 of your menstrual cycle if your cycle is 28 days. You probably ovulate between day 12 and day 16. If your cycles are longer, your ovulation will be about 12 - 16 days before your expected ovulation.

I recommend tracking your ovulation by using basal body temperature measurment method for 2 - 3 months in order to find out when your ovulation usually is.

Learn about how to determine your fertile days on Be Pregnant Fast blog.


Start testing about 3 days before your expected ovulation. Keep testing each day until you detect the hormone surge. In the case of a positive ovulation test it is recommended to have an intercourse in 24 – 36 hours after. To increase the chance of conceiving, it is recommended to time intercourse the day of the LH surge as well as following three days after.