How can I detect my ovulation myself?
The ovulation, known as ovulation in the technical language, is repeated in the female cycle approximately every 28 days. Ovulation takes place between the 12th and 15th day of the cycle. During these days some women can feel this process in their bodies; sometimes this time is also associated with pain in the breast or in the abdominal and abdominal area. Around the time of ovulation there are also the fertile days of a woman; the chances of becoming pregnant are therefore particularly high here.
What symptoms indicate imminent ovulation?
There are a variety of symptoms that can be signs of ovulation. However, they may vary from woman to woman, or may not be pronounced at all, and may also change from cycle to cycle. A common symptom is the so-called Mittelschmerz.
This describes an unpleasant stabbing or pulling sensation in the abdomen, which is one-sided and can also change sides depending on the cycle. The female breasts are also increasingly sensitive to touch and pain before ovulation. Another sign of imminent ovulation is a change in the cervical mucus (mucus from the cervix, also known as discharge).
This becomes thinner under the influence of hormones before ovulation. Sometimes this change in the mucus is accompanied by a small bleeding, the ovulation bleeding. This causes the mucus to turn brownish-red for a short time.
Some women also feel an increased desire for sex shortly before ovulation. Another way of detecting ovulation is to regularly measure the basal body temperature (body temperature at rest before getting up in the morning). However, the basal body temperature changes by up to 0.5°C shortly after ovulation.
Shortly before ovulation, the so-called cervical mucus (mucus of the cervix, also known as discharge) becomes thinner, more elastic and more transparent. In addition, the amount of mucus produced also increases during this time and the vagina feels moist. It is also possible that so-called ovulatory bleeding occurs around ovulation, which can cause the mucus to turn brownish-red for a short time.
All this is caused by the influence and interplay of hormones in the female cycle and serves to make it easier for the male sperm to reach fertilisation. In the rest of the cycle, especially directly after the period, many women have little or no discharge, which also appears relatively thick and whitish-broken when it occurs. The consistency of the cervical mucus can be used to determine its fertile days using the symptothermal method, if the woman regularly examines herself, taking into account her basal temperature.
During the female cycle, a lower basal body temperature is usually found in the first half of the cycle up to ovulation, while in the second half of the cycle after ovulation it increases by up to approx. 0.5°C. However, it is important to note that this is the basal body temperature, which must be measured at rest before physical activity.
This means that the body temperature must be measured every morning before getting up, otherwise no reliable and comparable results can be obtained. It is best to take the temperature vaginally (in the vagina) or rectally (in the anus) over a period of three minutes and at about the same time every morning. The basal body temperature is then raised within 48 hours after ovulation.
To be sure that the elevated temperature measured has not been caused once by other influences, this elevation should be measured on at least three consecutive days. The next article may also be of interest to you: Ovulation and temperatureThe cervical mucus, also known as cervical mucus in the technical terminology, changes over the course of the female cycle and ovulation. A temporary, short-term reddish-brownish discoloration of the discharge is harmless and indicates a so-called ovulation bleeding (bleeding at the time of ovulation).
- If it is thick, whitish-crumbly and of small quantity in the first half of the cycle, which begins shortly after the period, its consistency and quantity produced changes as ovulation approaches.
- Shortly before ovulation, the vagina feels moister, the discharge appears thinner and can pull strings due to its increased elasticity.
At the time of ovulation, some women experience an unpleasant, stabbing or pulling pain of varying duration in the breast area and/or in the abdomen or lower abdomen.In addition, the female breast is also more pressure sensitive at this time and can have a painful feeling of tension. The pain in the abdominal area is also called middle pain or intermenstrual pain and is located alternately on the left or right side per cycle, depending on whether ovulation occurs in the right or left ovary.
