Luteinizing hormone (LH) is a key reproductive hormone, with a major role to play in fertility. Here’s why you should monitor LH levels, and which hormone tracking tools are best.
Hormones play key roles in regulating our bodies physically and emotionally.
Monitoring hormone levels, including luteinizing hormone levels, can help you better understand your menstrual cycle, your reproductive health, and your overall health.
This guide to monitoring luteinizing hormone levels covers need-to-know topics like what luteinizing hormone is, why it’s important to monitor luteinizing hormone, what luteinizing hormone levels you can expect to see throughout your cycle and across life stages, and more.
What is luteinizing hormone? Before we jump into why and how to monitor luteinizing hormone levels, let’s cover our bases. What is luteinizing hormone?
Luteinizing hormone, commonly referred to as LH, is one of the main reproductive hormones. LH is secreted by the pituitary gland, a pea-sized gland located at the base of the brain.
LH is a key player in your fertility and ovarian function. It helps :
Stimulate the production of estrogen and progesterone (two other major reproductive hormones) Trigger ovulation Regulate the corpus luteum (a temporary structure that your body forms each cycle, to help prepare the uterus for a potential pregnancy) Luteinizing hormone levels rise and fall throughout your menstrual cycle. Baseline levels vary depending on what part of life you’re in.
>>MORE: What is Progesterone?
Why should you monitor luteinizing hormone levels? What’s so special about luteinizing hormone, and why is it important to measure, track, and monitor luteinizing hormone levels?
The answer is related to the crucial role LH plays in ovulation, the fertile window, and fertility in general.
LH, the LH surge, and ovulation Around midway through a typical menstrual cycle , you ovulate, meaning your ovaries release the mature egg that’s been growing for the past couple weeks. If that egg gets fertilized by sperm, it travels to the uterus, where it may implant and you may become pregnant.
Various hormones work tirelessly behind the scenes to set the stage for ovulation, including LH.
As you move through the first half of your cycle, luteinizing hormone levels gradually increase. Then, in the day or two before ovulation, LH levels start skyrocketing. This is the beginning of a crucial hormonal event called the LH surge .
When LH hits its highest levels (the peak of the LH surge), that spike tells your ovaries to release the egg. Ovulation then occurs about 10 to 12 hours later.
Why does the LH surge matter? The LH surge runs the ovulation show. It’s the hormonal event that triggers ovulation—without the LH surge , you don’t ovulate.
Plus, the LH surge is your all-important sign that ovulation is about to happen, which means you can pinpoint ovulation timing based on LH levels.
That also makes monitoring luteinizing hormone levels an important part of finding your fertile window , or the six-day period each cycle when you can get pregnant.
Why is monitoring LH important? So why should you measure and track LH? Because monitoring luteinizing hormone levels is key to capturing your LH surge, and your LH surge is key to pinpointing ovulation, finding your fertile window, and acting on your fertility goals.
If you’re trying to conceive , monitoring luteinizing hormone levels helps you maximize your chances of getting pregnant in a given cycle.
If you’re trying to avoid pregnancy , on the other hand, tracking LH to determine when you’re most fertile helps you know when to take precautions as needed.
How to monitor luteinizing hormone levels Now that we know why it’s important to monitor luteinizing hormone levels, let’s take a look at how to go about monitoring.
Hormone tracking kits are one of the best ways to measure and track hormones at home.
Ovulation predictor kits (OPKs) are the first-level option. Standard OPKs check luteinizing hormone levels in your urine, to capture the LH surge and tell you whether you’re ovulating.
But standard OPKs have some significant shortcomings. In particular:
They don’t provide exact LH measurements (often reporting “yes” or “no” detection results instead) They use a narrow window of measurement that doesn’t account for LH levels in those with a lower or higher baseline They don’t measure other reproductive hormones alongside LH To more reliably monitor your luteinizing hormone levels—and to build a more detailed picture of your reproductive health and fertility—consider opting for a multi-hormone fertility kit .
Advanced multi-hormone fertility kits like the Oova kit measure luteinizing hormone levels and estrogen and progesterone levels , providing detailed, quantitative data with exact measurements for each hormone.
Plus, Oova learns your hormone levels and calibrates to your unique hormone baseline. That means you get personalized results in line with your body, enabling you to reliably and accurately capture the LH surge, ovulation, and other key monthly hormone fluctuations.
>>MORE: Normal Estrogen Levels During Menstrual Cycle
What luteinizing hormone levels can you expect to see? When you monitor LH (and other hormones!), you’ll notice that levels rise and fall throughout your cycle and across life stages.
These are the ranges of luteinizing hormone levels that you can generally expect to see during a given cycle in your reproductive years:
Follicular phase Ovulatory phase Luteal phase Luteinizing hormone levels also vary depending on where you are in your life:
LH levels when you’re trying to conceive (TTC) If you’re TTC, keep an eye out for the rise in luteinizing hormone levels that occurs around midcycle (anywhere from 14.0–95.6 mIU/L, depending on your LH baseline).
This rise indicates the start of the LH surge. That’s your signal that you’re fertile and about to ovulate, meaning it’s time to try to get pregnant .
Who should monitor luteinizing hormone levels? Hormone tracking is a great way to get to know your fertility and your body.
Anyone can monitor luteinizing hormone levels for any reason, including to:
Monitoring luteinizing hormone levels: the bottom line LH is a key reproductive hormone that plays a major role in your body.
Measuring, tracking, and monitoring luteinizing hormone levels using an at-home multi-hormone fertility kit can help you understand when you ovulate and when your fertile window occurs. That gives you invaluable insight into your reproductive health and fertility, no matter your fertility goals.
