What is the point of OPK sticks though?

[owl2015]

Sorry to sound daft here- I'm a conception newbie so please humour me. I just don't understand why people use these? I know they detect the LH surge etc, but if the egg lives for 24 hours and the sperm lives for up to 7 days, surely if you are having sex once a day you don't need to know the specific ovulation moment?

(As an aside- I have followed the fertility awareness contraception method for years so I am pretty aware of my ovulation signs and CD).

The sperm doesn’t necessarily live for up to 7 days (info suggest more like 5)
It also helps people to track their cycles and when they ovulate.
People can’t always have sex daily.

Having sex daily is not recommended because of sperm quality.

I have pcos, my cycles range from 5 weeks to 7 months. Do you seriously think that I should have had sex every day for 7 months?!?

The advice on sex daily (during fertile window) fluctuates between sex every 48 hours to sex every day depending on where you look. I had always thought it was max every 48 hours but my GP said once a day made sense (but no more due to sperm quality).

Ok, so aside from if the woman's cycle is wildly unpredictable, if you essentially know your ovulation date within about a 3 day leeway, and have regular sex, then there's no need for OPKs too.

If you don't need OPK's because you are regular and you know for sure that and when you are ovulating then yes, you might not want to use them. That goes for pretty much everything though.

I had always thought it was max every 48 hours but my GP said once a day made sense (but no more due to sperm quality).

Tbh I'd rather listen to the leading fertility specialist in my country than some GP who just thinks that something makes sense. Anyway, if you are new to conception maybe you should just try to have sex regularly and if you don't get pregnant within a year (totally normal to take up to a year to get pregnant) then seek more help?

I personally think this thread is pointless however we still reply... irony at its finest hey 😂

It can take months to get pregnant and many people can't have sex every day for months on end. Shift workers who might not see their partners every day, people with low libido (or whose partner has low libido), people with conditions that make sex painful or difficult, people who travel for work...

I don't want to have sex everyday (or even every 2nd day through my whole cycle).
A bad birth with my first, still tender episiotomy and some nerve damage meaning I don't orgasm means it's not enjoyable for me anymore. That and a toddler who is going through a phase of needing to me near me day and night makes opk's very useful.

@Lammoshay 🙌

If I was still having long irregular cycles I’d be using opk... I work nights... and have a 6 year old. Sex everyday or every other is impossible for us.

Ok! There's a lot of defensive responses to my op! It was just a question really! Each to their own and I'm not making judgements. I was just asking under what circumstances they might be necessary because the advertisers don't make that clear- they just imply that it helps you get pregnant..

@owl2015 OPKs help some women get pregnant because they don't know their ovulation day. The majority of women don't. I had no idea as had just come off the pill so I used them to detect my surge then DTD accordingly. My partner works shifts so we don't do it everyday or every other day but obviously if you were then yes, there would be no need for them but that's pretty obvious to me.

I was just asking under what circumstances they might be necessary because the advertisers don't make that clear-

The advertisers also say that I'll be happily jumping on a trampoline in white jeans if I wear Tena Lady.

I don't have issues with leaking urine though, so I don't think I'll buy them

OPK means ovulation prediction kit. If you don't need help predicting it, you don't need it. It's a bit obvious in the name though.

I use OPKs so I can pinpoint exactly what day AF is due to arrive. I know they don’t work that well for others, I’m lucky enough that I have a strong LH surge and I do always ovulate the next day after a positive OPK. It’s never failed me. Knowing exactly what day to expect AF can save a lot of early testing and “am I or aren’t I” when you get a negative test but your period is “late” as typically in a situation like that, your period is not “late”, you’re really just guessing and you’ve got it wrong!

As an active TTCer for 1 year now with no take home babies OPKs have saved a lot of stress.

Good on anyone who can take the laid back approach and just have sex every day though, they are probably also the ones who wait until their missed period to test rather than rushing out on 7dpo to buy a FRER like a good majority of us!

HTH

Try for a baby - you might start to get the gist

I use opks as I like to know either way whether I know for sure I'm ovulating it's nice to have it backed up as an indication to assure myself it's happening