A faint line on pregnancy test strip means that your test is not sensitive enough to detect hCG, the hormone which develops in the body during pregnancy.
A faint line on your pregnancy test could make you jittery, get you confused and you will be left to wonder what it means. Well, here is what it means.
If you find a faint line on the strip for home pregnancy test, it is not a conclusive sign for either positive or negative. The home pregnancy tests depend on detecting the presence of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) in your body. The level of this hormone should reach a level before testing positive. Whether a pregnancy test will be positive or not is dependent on its sensitivity to the level of hormone present in your body. The more sensitive a pregnancy test, the earlier it will show positive.
What does it Suggest?
A faint line on pregnancy test strip would suggest that your test is not very sensitive. You can check the sensitivity of your test by looking at what it says about it. It would be expressed in IU/L. i.e. milli International Units per Liter. The lower this value, the greater is the sensitivity of the test. Test with a sensitivity of 20 UL/L would be more sensitive than one with 40 UL/L. The former would be able to tell sooner about whether you are pregnant or not. In general, the more expensive pregnancy test happens to be more sensitive. By going over the specific value mentioned on the side of the box which contained the pregnancy test materials, you can be sure about its sensitivity.
So, when you get a faint line on pregnancy test, it could be suggestive of a positive result. In order to ensure that it is indeed positive, you could repeat the test 2 or 3 days later. If you are pregnant, the subsequent test would test positive unquestionably. The home urine tests are positive by the time your period becomes due if your body is producing normal amount of hCG.
There are some cases of early miscarriage which show as faintly positive pregnancy test for a few days followed by a negative result. Estimates put the figure of miscarriages at 20 to 30 percent. Many of these are early miscarriages.
If you are really concerned about whether your pregnancy has started or not, you need to take the pregnancy test by visiting your doctor. The doctors can detect the least possible presence of hCG in your body. Compared to a faint response pregnancy test, getting confirmation from a medical center is much better. In any case, if you are really pregnant, you do need to visit your doctor in order to begin looking after yourself and your baby right away.
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