Even before COVID-19 and certainly since its restrictive and invasive entrance, more and more women are opting to check on their wellness from the comfort of their homes.
Who can blame them really? The key is to find a method that will provide the easiest and best way to get accurate and timely assessments and or results.
Using at-home women’s health test kits is one of those methods.
These kits are useful for helping women to identify imbalances and pinpoint symptoms that made them feel less than their best.
Extending this type of self-care and self-awareness allow women to take full responsibility and control for their health.
This article will help you by giving answers to some general and frequently asked questions surrounding using women’s health tests at home so that you can make more informed decisions about how to administer your own health checks, the benefits of early detection, and much more.
Can I do an At-home Women’s Health Test?
Yes, you can do an at-home women’s health test and there are actually numerous women’s health tests that you can use at home to monitor and manage your health and wellness.
What these test measures
Necessary and detailed hormone testing can be done in the comfort of your home to measure the levels of certain hormones, like thyroid hormones, estrogen levels, heart health, and luteinizing hormone to help you identify issues like a hormone imbalance or an overactive thyroid gland.
These test kits are designed to assess particular wellness factors and check for indicators of conditions, such as female fertility problems, diabetes, heart disease, thyroid function, an imbalance in female hormones, hair loss, breast cancer, levels of inflammation, cholesterol, and iron, etc.
General health and economic benefits
As a woman, you want to be assured that you are not doing yourself any further injustice by taking home women’s health tests. You want to know if these at-home tests are safe, accurate, easy to do, and affordable.
First of all, they are absolutely affordable and you will have several options from which to choose, as there are multiple trustworthy brands on the market.
We’ve gone ahead to create a list of the top companies and women’s health tests that are most recommended, so you don’t have to do a lot of searching to find the best women’s health test kits.
These women’s health tests kits also promote convenience while saving you a pretty penny when you think of the money and trips you could save from not having to travel to clinics, labs, doctor’s office, and hospitals to do a simple test that you could easily and accurately do at home.
According to approved manufacturers of the various brands, they are generally accurate and comparable to those received under the supervision of medical personnel. Again, yes, you can do your own at-home women’s health test by purchasing a kit of your choice.
Once you have identified your health concern from either observing your symptoms or being diagnosed by a medical professional, you can order the relevant kit to help monitor your progress or current state.
Home women’s health test kits are beneficial for early detection and to allow women more time to make changes, if necessary, lead healthy lifestyles, and or maintain longer wellness. You should not go wrong by using at-home hormone tests, for example, because these kits are specific to the type of test that they facilitate or measure.
Arguably, they are foolproof to understand and can be completed in minutes.
How can I do an At-home Women’s Health Test?
Doing health tests for women at home is generally pretty simple and straightforward and while the steps may vary somewhat, particularly depending on the type of test you are doing and the sample it requires, there are basic steps that are similar across all types of sample collection, such as blood and saliva samples and test types.
Typically, the test kits require that you provide blood, urine, saliva, or blood sample.
The basic steps
- Search for a reputable company and register online with the company you are purchasing the test kit.
- Once the package gets delivered to you, read the instructions and collect the sample for your women’s health home test as directed. Try not to rush, this can cause mistakes, which you really don’t want to happen, as that can spoil your entire kit.
- Once you have collected your sample, package and ship it to the lab address provided. However, some kits do not need to be returned, as you will get the test results in minutes.
- Otherwise, you will need to wait a few days for laboratory testing to take place in a CLIA-certified lab.
- Check for your test results, which are usually ready in five to seven days after sample submission.
- If necessary, get medical consultation as soon as possible.
Other General Information
Pay particular attention to pre or post requirements of the test to ensure that you get the optimum benefit and the most accurate results.
For example, some tests will require that you eat or fast before you take their tests. Or they may have a timeline or time of day that the tests should be conducted. Some have special instructions based on the timing of your menstrual cycle.
All of these instructions are critical to the result.
Are At-home Women’s Health Tests Accurate?
Yes, they generally are but the level of accuracy can vary depending on the brands.
What can affect test results accuracy?
The companies that manufacture at-home women’s health tests must adhere to a number of regulatory requirements that demand that they maintain the standard before these health products can be placed on the market.
Entities such as the International Standardization for Organization (ISO) dictate quality management systems that govern how brands must operate in the medical space as they manufacture women’s health kits for home use.
In addition, they must partner with CLIA-certified laboratories to ensure that they are compliant with industry standards.
They also undergo intense approval certification from their Boards and certified doctors in the field.
These types of stringent requirements and rigorous certifications ensure that the quality of the end product is reliable and, therefore, accurate.
Many laboratories purport that at-home women’s health tests are able to accurately track and improve hormone balance, immune system function, irregular periods, TPO antibodies, weight gain, thyroid disease, wellness monitoring, and overall health.
Additionally, they argue that they use advanced sampling technology that allows them to extract sample information from a saliva sample, blood sample, etc. with spot-on accuracy.
These tests may be just as accurate as traditional lab tests.
Summary
It is safe to say that at-home women’s health tests lend some affordability, convenience, and credibility to options being offered by allowing you to test for hormonal balance and other issues.
Further, many of these brands are accurate and the tests are relatively easy-to-do. They help women keep abreast of their overall health by returning trustworthy results for hormones measured.
Some brands may even provide physician support for the entire process. Speak to your healthcare professional to start doing your health tests from the comfort of your own home.