Ovulation, (not Menstruation) is the Main Hormonal Event of the Cycle. How do you know if you Ovulate Regularly? What is a True BBT?

Even if you are not trying to get pregnant, ovulation is an eco-indicator of your health. The safer your body feels in its environment, the more likely you are to ovulate. Ovulation is the main hormonal event of the cycle that creates hormones. It is possible to have anovulatory cycles, where no ovulation occurs but breakthrough bleeding happens. While it's not a cause to panic, tracking your ovulation can be an amazing source of biofeedback on how your body is doing.

How Do I know if Ovulated?

There are 3 main ways to know you ovulated:

1. Basal Body Temperature (BBT): a dip up in temperature by 0.5 degrees Fahrenheit higher than the first phase of your cycle for at least 6 days, and it remains higher for the remainder of the cycle.

2. Cervical Mucus: egg-white cervical mucus occurs on your ovulation day

3. Ovulation Tests / Blood Work: Ovulation tests do have a time lag, so it's great to also use Cervical Mucus with BBT to get real-time insight into how your cycle is progressing.

What is a True Basal Body Temperature?

Basal Body temperature refers to the body's temperature at rest. BBT is usually measured orally, rectally, vaginally, or in the armpit to get the most accurate reflection of the body's core internal temperature. To get the most accurate reading, you will need to use either a thermometer with 2 decimal places or a wearable that is built for these areas, like the armpit or the vagina during sleep.

Are all Wearable Temperatures created equal?

The short answer is no. We all love our Apple Watches and ŌURA rings, but you will notice as a user that these measurements at this time indicate to you a graph without raw temperature data, but rather your difference from your baseline for a given day. There is a great reason for this- as finger and wrist temperatures fluctuate more with our environment and experience more temperature volatility as they are the furthest away from our hearts. They are still great introductions to noticing patterns, but a true basal body temperature must be measured by either a thermometer with 2 decimal places or by a wearable built for the areas of the body that can measure basal body temperature.

Flöka

Flöka was built for smarter, faster communication between patients and providers. It was crafted to bridge the communication gap, making the conversation hormones deeper, smarter and swifter.

You can invite your provider from inside of the flöka app- get it today here. As a provider you can take flöka for a spin here.

How can I get the most out of my investment in my Provider?

Come armed with data! The more data you have relevant to your concerns, the better use of time you will get out of your appointment, and your provider's expertise. We also recommend bringing recent lab work, and a history copy- to make sure you mention everything you need to during your appointment. The richer the inputs, the richer the outputs- aka your results!

Download our handout on Ovulation from Fullscript's Women's Health Summit!

Happy Ovulating,

-your flöka team