Using at-home pregnancy tests is one outstanding way to confirm if you are pregnant or not. However, women have several questions about these pregnancy tests. One of the most common issues they face is regarding the evaporation line on pregnancy test. Are you familiar with this line on a pregnancy test? What does this mean? Keep reading to learn more about it.
What Is It?
Pregnancy tests show evaporation lines due to evaporating urine in the pregnancy test window. There will be a very faint line on a home pregnancy test when the urine on it begins to dry up and disappear. This faint, colorless line can appear on any at-home pregnancy test. In some cases, the evaporation line even highlights the antibody strip and makes women to think that they are pregnant. It is also possible for the second line to look like an indentation. It is important that you do not consider these results positive.
Why Does It Occur?
This usually happens when you wait too long to read your test results. There is a specific test window to consider. If you ignore it, you will get incorrect results due to an evaporation line. An evaporation line resembles a positive pregnancy test result,it is, therefore, very important to read instructions regarding home pregnancy test before actually taking the test. You need to know exactly how long you have to wait to read the results. If you go beyond the allotted time, you will have an evaporation line on pregnancy test and get inaccurate results.
It is also important to understand that not every woman may see evaporation line. That is mainly due to unique chemical makeup of urine. Some women's urine may develop an evaporation line, while others may never see this. Due to this chemical makeup of urine that some women see evaporation line immediately after taking the test, while others see it after an hour or so.
How to Deal with Evaporation Line on Pregnancy Test
An evaporation line can make things confusing because it can appear within the rest window exactly where a positive or negative result is. Many women save the test once they see a negative result and check it again an hour later. If another line appears hours later, it is an evaporation line and not a pregnancy indicator.
While it depends on the type of test you are using, the reaction time is usually 5 minutes for most tests. It is usually possible to interpret a negative result within 3-5 minutes. In case you do not see a positive result within the reaction time, you should not keep it to check it again later. This will only leave you confused because a second line might appear, which is nothing but an evaporation line.
Keep in mind that getting negative result does not always mean you are not pregnant. Sometimes, you test too early when your hCG levels are a little too low to show on the strip. It is, however, important to discard the test if you see an evaporation line on pregnancy test.
What If It Shows Up in the Time Limit?
If an evaporation line appears within the reaction time, the chances are it is not an evaporation line. It is more likely to be a positive result. If you have experienced these evaporation lines in the past, you may want to discard it if it is a very faint positive.
The best thing is to repeat your test if you get a faint positive result. You just cannot ignore the faintest of lines you see on the test. Taking another test will help confirm things. Just keep in mind that the line should appear within the timeframe or reaction time mentioned on the test. If it is within the reaction time, even the faintest line may mean a positive result.
Also, bear in mind that false positives are usually quite rare, but they can happen. If you have seen a faint positive test result but still get your period, this may not be menstrual period at all but an early miscarriage. Talk to your doctor for confirmation.