Ovulatory bleeding, as the name suggests, is abnormal uterine bleeding that occurs during ovulation, and is a common type of mid-menstrual bleeding in women of childbearing age. Why does ovulatory bleeding occur? The endometrial lining generally starts to proliferate on the 5th day of menstruation under the effect of estrogen secreted by the ovaries and gradually grows thicker, reaching a peak on the 14th day of menstruation, and during ovulation, with the discharge of follicles, the level of estrogen decreases, and if the level of estrogen decreases to a level that is insufficient to maintain the endometrial lining, a If the estrogen level drops to a level that is insufficient to maintain the endometrium, a breakthrough of endometrial decidualization will occur, resulting in ovulatory bleeding. After ovulation, with the formation of the corpus luteum, the secretion of estrogen will gradually rise again, and at this time, the breakthrough bleeding will stop. In simple terms, it is when the estrogen secretion from the ovaries decreases and the luteal secretion does not reach a sufficient level of estrogen, there is a relatively large gap and it will cause ovulatory bleeding. However, this gap is usually not too long, so the amount and duration of most ovulatory bleeding is not too long, and some of them even just show a brown discharge during ovulation. How can you tell if it is ovulatory bleeding or not? The first thing is to rule out other organic lesions by ultrasound, including cervical polyps, endometrial polyps, uterine fibroids, etc. After these organic changes are ruled out, only then functional changes are considered. Then there is a simple and effective way to determine the basal body temperature, abbreviated as BBT, by taking the temperature every morning after waking up and doing nothing, and then recording it, you can record it yourself with a recording form, and now many apps also provide this function, after a complete recording of the temperature of a cycle, you can get the situation of the temperature change during the menstrual cycle. Normal body temperature changes are bi-directional, starting with a relatively low body temperature during menstruation, while after ovulation there is usually a rise in body temperature of 0.5°C or more, which continues until the onset of menstruation. The presence of such a temperature indicates ovulation. If bleeding occurs when the temperature rises, then it is likely to be ovulatory bleeding. Example of Basal Body Temperature Test (BBT) Of course, ovulation can also be detected by ultrasound along with hormone level measurement for a more definitive diagnosis, but it does not seem necessary to make such a fuss. Occasional ovulatory bleeding is usually self-healing and does not require treatment, nor does a small amount of bleeding affect sexual life or conception. If it happens repeatedly over a long period of time, it will still cause some disturbance in your life. At this time, you can use estrogen or progestin to adjust it before and after ovulation, and it will usually return to normal after a few cycles.