The LH surge refers to the dramatic, sudden, and brief increase that occurs in the level of Luteinizing Hormone in a woman’s body just prior to ovulation. By detecting an LH surge, an Ovulation Predictor Kit (OPK) can let a woman know that she is about to ovulate, and that it is time to try to conceive. The LH surge generally takes place about a day or so prior to ovulation, although it may occur as many as three days prior to ovulation for some women. If you cannot detect an LH surge with an Ovulation Predictor Kit, it can mean several things.

The most obvious conclusion is that being unable to detect an LH surge means that you aren’t having an LH surge. Generally speaking, this probably means that you also are not ovulating. While it is possible that some women may have a mild enough LH surge that it is not detected by an Ovulation Predictor Kit, it is highly irregular and, for the most part, unlikely. If you can’t detect an LH surge it probably means that you are not ovulating.

There are other possibilities, however. If you can’t detect an LH surge, it may be that you are not testing at the correct time. If you have a longer monthly cycle, for example, you will need to use the Ovulation Predictor Kit later in the month than you would if you have a 28 day cycle. In this regard, it is especially important that you familiarize yourself with the instructions for the LH surge test, so that you know which days of your cycle you should test for the LH surge. If you have an irregular cycle, this can be especially tricky to know exactly when to try to detect the LH surge.

A final possibility if you can’t detect an LH surge is that the test strip that you used on the day that you experienced the LH surge did not function properly. Here again, using the Ovulation Predictor Kit in the way that the instructions describes is essential. In a very rare occasion, the strip itself may be defective, which means that next month you should be able to detect an LH surge.