Patient's question:
Medical Description: My menstrual cycle has always been regular, with my last period occurring around July 6th and 7th. I had sexual intercourse on July 25th, but the male partner only inserted without ejaculation. On September 9th of this month, I tested with a pregnancy test using morning urine and it showed no pregnancy. Today, on September 15th, I tested again with morning urine and it still showed no pregnancy. However, my period has still not arrived, and it has been delayed by nearly 10 days.History of Treatment and Effectiveness: I used a pregnancy test twice, and both results showed no pregnancy.
What kind of help I am seeking: Can I trust the results of my pregnancy tests? Since I am not pregnant, why hasn’t my period arrived yet?
Doctor's answer:
There are two types of pregnancy test results with pregnancy test sticks:1. Drop urine into the test hole on the test paper. If a colored band appears in the control area of the test paper (some test papers show red, while others show blue), it indicates that you are not pregnant.
2. If a distinct colored band appears in the test area, it indicates a positive result, meaning pregnancy has occurred.
Pregnancy test sticks offer the advantages of being fast, convenient, sensitive, and highly specific, as they can avoid cross-reactions with other glycoprotein hormones similar to HCG. However, women who self-test for early pregnancy must remember: pregnancy test sticks can only serve as a preliminary screening test. Testing with pregnancy test sticks in the morning and evening may yield different results, as there can be variations. Morning urine generally has the highest HCG levels, so many instructions recommend testing upon waking, but this is not absolute.
A word of advice: early pregnancy test strips are not the most accurate, and there may be instances where the test results are not reliable. They are merely a standard for preliminary testing. It is best to have an HCG test done at a hospital.