Can I test for pregnancy if my period doesn't come for a few days?

The menstrual cycle is controlled by the hypothalamic-pituitary-uterine-ovarian axis, and mental and environmental factors also have a certain impact on the menstrual period. The normal menstrual cycle of women is regular, usually 21-35 days. For women who are married and have their menstruation delayed for more than a week, in addition to the possibility of irregular menstruation, they should also check to see if they are pregnant. So, how long does it take for menstruation to be delayed before pregnancy can be detected?

Methods for testing pregnancy include blood hcg measurement and early pregnancy test strips. Among them, blood hcg is the most sensitive way to check early pregnancy. Generally, 10 days after intercourse, if pregnancy occurs, a blood test for hcg can detect it. The blood hcg level is elevated during pregnancy.

Early pregnancy test strips are the most common method of testing pregnancy because they are easy to operate and can be checked at home, which is very convenient.

So, how long does it take for an early pregnancy test to detect a delayed period?

Early pregnancy test strips are made based on the principle of hCG increase during pregnancy. They are tested in urine, so they do not show up as early as blood hCG, but they can usually be detected one week after the menstruation is delayed. Some pregnancy test strips can be detected just 1-2 days after the menstruation is delayed.

When using early pregnancy test strips, you must pay attention to using the correct operating steps. Improper operation will affect the results. In addition, the test results must be loaded within the required time. Results that appear beyond the required time are meaningless. Because in clinical medicine, we often encounter such patients. The pregnancy test paper has been kept for a long time, and a weak positive appears. They are very confused and don’t know whether the test result is accurate. In fact, this weak positive that appeared later has already exceeded the result loading time required by the pregnancy test paper, and this result has no clinical manifestation.