Women are very concerned about their periods, once they come a few days early. If it is a few days late, or simply does not come, we are always banging the drum in our hearts, worrying whether there is something wrong with our health?
In fact, in our body, there is a self-contained health signal – this is the female basal body temperature. So, what is basal body temperature? Basal body temperature, also known as resting body temperature, is the temperature of our body after
It is the temperature of our body taken after 6 to 8 hours of good sleep and before we get up, eat, talk, or exercise – that is, it is the temperature taken after we wake up and do nothing.
This basal body temperature is the body’s lowest temperature during the day and night, and doctors can sometimes use it to measure the body’s metabolism and hormone levels. Both men and women have a basal body temperature, but today we will focus on the basal body temperature of women.
Female hormones change regularly in our bodies as we go through the menstrual cycle. As it changes, the basal body temperature also changes subtly. In a normal menstrual cycle, if we take the basal body temperature once a day in the morning, and then draw a dot on the corresponding chart with the basal body temperature measured every day, and finally connect all the temperature garden dots in a month, we will find that the basal body temperature tends to be “low first and then high” during the whole menstrual cycle. This is because: during the first half of menstruation, that is, before ovulation, the female hormones in our body are mainly estrogen, with only a small amount of progesterone, and it is mainly the role of progesterone to raise body temperature. After ovulation, the ovaries form a little thing called “corpus luteum”, which can produce a large amount of progesterone secretion, so after ovulation, the basal body temperature can rise 0.3-0.5 degrees on average. If we understand the subtleties and patterns of this, we can not only grasp the best chance of conception or contraception, but also detect the first signs of diseases that may exist in time.
Basal body temperature curve of low and then high
Men’s basal body temperature usually does not change much. Occasionally, there are small fluctuations, but there are no consistent and periodic low and high temperatures, which doctors call “a one-way state of temperature.” What is the purpose of basal body temperature? What does basal body temperature indicate to women? Let’s take a look.
1, grasp the basal body temperature “low temperature section” of the end of the law – to guide conception or contraception.
Generally speaking, male sperm survive in women’s bodies for about 2-3 days, so women should have intercourse when their basal body temperature is still in the “low-temperature section” close to ovulation, and have sex once every 2-3 days on average, or slightly more frequently close to ovulation. Some young couples always wait for ovulation before having intercourse, and the chances of pregnancy are lower when the body temperature starts to rise after ovulation – this is because.
(1) The large amount of progesterone in the body at this time causes the mucus at the mouth of the cervix to become sticky, which is not conducive to sperm penetration and upstream to the uterine fallopian tubes.
(2) The egg may also lose its ability to be fertilized if it has been expelled for too long.
Therefore, after a doctor’s examination there is no problem, and a relatively long period of time no pregnancy of the young couple can be continuous measurement of the basal body temperature 2-3 months, master their “low temperature section” of the law, to guide their own intercourse.
Of course, no fertility requirements of women, we must reverse, to avoid intercourse during this time.
2, the basal body temperature “high temperature section” failed, want to “good pregnancy” need to see a doctor!
After ovulation, the normal female high temperature period is about 2 weeks, at least should be more than 12 days. If it is less than 12 days, doctors call this condition “luteal phase is too short”. The rise in body temperature during the luteal phase is slow or less than 0.3-0.5 degrees, which is a sign of poor luteal function, and the presence of these conditions indicates that the patient may have poor ovarian function. If you are older than 35 years old, you should seek help from a fertility doctor as soon as possible.
3.What is your “fertility”?
For women with regular menstruation, if the basal body temperature “high temperature” lasts for more than 16-20 days (not the real fever, but the body temperature between 36.9 and 37.2 degrees), you may be pregnant! The reason for this is the continuous secretion of progesterone from the corpus luteum of the ovaries after pregnancy. At this point, you should at least be careful to avoid all factors that are not good for the embryo, and you should confirm your pregnancy with a urine pregnancy test or a blood HCG draw and get further guidance and help from your doctor.
In another case, if your basal body temperature remains “high” for more than 16-20 days and pregnancy is confirmed, and then the basal body temperature drops, the development of the embryo may have stopped and you should go to the hospital for further treatment.
The basal body temperature can really tell you if you are “pregnant” or not!
4.Check if you have any disease that affects pregnancy?
Sometimes people who have a disease do not feel anything, but the basal body temperature will reflect the problem. As we know, the basal body temperature of women changes with the menstrual cycle, showing a state of “low before and high after”. If the basal body temperature is always greater than 36.5 degrees during the first half of menstruation (follicle development) and 37 degrees during the second half of menstruation, it should be considered as feverish and the most common gynecological endocrine diseases in fertile women are “endometriosis” and “female pelvic tuberculosis”. “Both of these diseases can cause infertility. It is important to note that oral contraceptive pills or oral progestin preparations given by your doctor for treatment purposes can also cause an increase in basal body temperature.
If a woman of childbearing age has a persistently low basal body temperature without the second half of the “basal high” mentioned above, or if the “basal high” occurs for a short period of time, she may have “polycystic ovary syndrome”. In this case, the patient does not feel anything, but she is usually fat, her menstruation is often delayed, her face is full of “pimples” and her hair is dense.
How to measure basal body temperature? To measure the basal body temperature: you should put the thermometer to the lowest point before going to bed the night before, and put it under your tongue or armpit for 5 minutes after waking up in the morning. On your basal body temperature chart, record the dates of menstruation, intercourse, colds, etc. It is best to use a one-line table for each menstrual cycle.
Finally, a reminder that everyone is different and each person has their own pattern of basal body temperature. Therefore, if you intend to use basal body temperature to detect suboptimal health and guide conception or contraception, you should follow the above requirements and measure basal body temperature data continuously for 2-3 months, so as to know your “lowest”, “highest” and “trend” during the whole menstrual cycle. “and the “trend” of your menstrual cycle. Only then can you guide yourself more accurately.