There's no doubt about it, women have a love/hate relationship with their OPKs (ovulation predictor kits). For some, they're one more useful tool in pinpointing ovulation, and thus either facilitating or avoiding pregnancy. For others, the subtleties of reading and understanding the variations in lines can make them crazy and leaves them with more questions than answers. Is an OPK for you? Read on for information that will help you decide.

OPKs are tests that can be used to help you determine if and when you are ovulating. They work by detecting the level of gluteinizing hormone (LH) in your urine. In general, the level of LH rises just prior to ovulation. Using these kits during the range of possible ovulation times during the month allows you to pinpoint that surge and gives you an accurate estimate of when ovulation will occur.

For women who may be suffering from fertility issues, these kits help determine if ovulation is occurring at all. This can be confusing, but you can still have periods even if you don't ovulate, so even a regular cycle can be marked by an absence of ovulation.

When OPKs came on the market not too many years ago, they were seen as an important breakthrough in pinpointing fertility. This is because the most common method prior to the availability of measuring LH was basal body temperature (BBT) charting. With BBT, a woman knew she had ovulated when her temperature took a slight but steady rise. The main drawback to that method was that a woman only knew she had ovulated after she had already ovulated. As a result, BBT charts had to be kept over a period of several months and analyzed carefully to determine when she might possibly ovulate in any given time frame so that she could have intercourse before ovulation, which is considered the best time for conception. OPKs tell you beforehand, so you can plan accordingly.

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